A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Georgia
by Kody Wright
Summary: On their way to Georgia, Miles, Charlie and Nora come across an ex-thief with an unusual ability that she is hiding from them. Miles is determined to find out Dodger's secret while Dodger takes great pleasure in shocking Miles.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was common knowledge that hiking through the woods was safer than hiking the roads for highwaymen lay in wait for their next victim. The trio slowly made their way through the thick brush. Miles took the lead followed by Charlie and Nora covering his six. Miles preferred the arrangement for Nora was his most trusted hand to cover his family.

As they made their way they came across a small camp. The day was getting late and soon they would need to make camp themselves. Miles came to a halt and looked upon the very small campsite. There was a single occupant sitting on a log and a small dome tent.

He looked trying to gauge if the occupant was armed or perhaps if it was a trap. One small framed, brown haired woman about forty years of age sat on a log lighting a small fire. She wore blue jeans and a white tank top and an open red flannel shirt. Her hair was cut short. He didn't see any weapons except a small bow that would only have the draw power to take down a small animal.

She looked over towards them. Miles quickly moved behind a tree trunk. She looked back down at the fire, her big brown eyes danced as she spoke.

"I don't know who you are but I know you are there," she stated.

Miles made a face and cursed himself for being sloppy, "Damn." He stepped out from behind the tree with Charlie and Nora in tow. He made his way into the small clearing.

"You alone?" he asked.

She looked at the trio, they certainly didn't appear threatening but looks could be deceiving. She tested them.

"Oh no, I have an entire legion of men at my command," she informed.

Miles cocked an eyebrow, "Really?" He looked about and then traded glances with his niece, "Where?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I'm psychotic and off my meds." She lied; she was never mentally ill nor took any medication. Though, she did hold a deep secret that she dared not share with anyone, driving her to isolation.

"Okay," he wasn't sure what to make of the claim. Was she crazy? He wouldn't be surprised for he even questioned his sanity in this insane world.

She gazed at the wary travelers, "You guys hungry?"

Charlie nodded, "We are?"

The woman motioned, "Have a seat."

The three took a seat on a log across from her. They watched as the stranger tended the fire.

Miles started, "You have a name?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Do you?"

"I asked you first," he smirked.

"Dodger," she replied.

"Dodger?" he asked.

"Yup," she nodded, "just Dodger. It's a nick name given to me by the media before the blackout. I used to rob banks for a living…You?"

"I was a Marine," he replied.

Dodger asked, "Grunt or officer."

"Grunt," he stated.

"You know you failed to uphold your oath," she stated.

Amused he asked, "Which oath was that, Dodger?"

"The oath to the Constitution," she remarked.

He rebuked, "The United States is dead." 

She shook her head, "No, it's not. The Constitution was a document that served as the backbone for the United States. It didn't grant power to the US, it said what the government could not do. It was not a living, breathing document; it was a restraining order. Your job, as a grunt, was to protect and defend it with your life. Instead we got a bunch of idiot republics that don't even know the meaning of the term republic, run by crazy dictators…Especially that one that took over New York. Your job was to stop that." She sighed deeply, "But I'm really not surprised you failed of the citizenry had no idea we weren't even a democracy nor the difference."

Miles was about ready to just get up and leave. He didn't need this crap from anyone…Especially an admitted bank robber.

Nora on the other hand was very curious; she became intrigued, "The US wasn't a democracy?"

"It's a republic," Dodger informed, "with democratic elections…But not a democracy. Democracies are a form of despotism akin to a dictatorship. Democracies are majority rule; dictators are actually run by a small group of like-minded people and a republic is run by law. The Constitution had a Bill of Rights which was not a gift from the government but rather rights each person was born with and could not be taken away with due process."

"You a rebel?" asked Nora.

Dodger shook her head, "Nope, the rebels were the Confederates…I was a constitutional lawyer."

Miles queried, "I thought you said you were a bank robber?"

"I was," she shrugged. "I was taking on the corruption…Fighting fire with fire. Along came the blackout and well…That was the end of my career both legally and illegally."

Charlie laughed, "I don't know if you are telling us the truth or giving us a bunch of crap but you are entertaining."

"Thanks," Dodger replied digging into her pack. She retrieved a can of food. "Like peaches? I have a can but it's big and I've been saving it for some time."

"Love some," agreed Charlie.

"Great," Dodger cheered. She retrieved an old hand cranked can opener and started to work. Popping the lid and retrieved a fork. She dug into the large can and ate a piece of fruit and then handed can and fork to Miles. "Only have one fork; you will have to share."

Still wary Miles took a piece and handed the can off to Charlie. He watched his new host still judging her, trying to figure her out for he knew she was hiding something. But what?

Nora asked, "So, the Constitution is still there?"

She nodded, "Of course. There were two governments overlaying before the blackout. The incorporated government established to do business in the name of the government…That failed and closed. And there is the legal government which is still legal and just waiting for people to use it. It only becomes void with a vote to dissolve and no such thing ever happened. These other little governments that popped up just ignored that fact."

"So, the US never went away," gathered Nora.

"Nope," Dodger shook her head.

Miles warned, "Ya know, talk like that could get you executed in some places."

"True," conceded Dodger. "But it would be an illegal execution for I am still protected by the Bill of Rights and natural law. But if we don't talk about it then how will people know they still have rights? Oh, they won't and that would be a signature of a dictatorship…Hmm, the very thing you military guys were fighting overseas before the blackout…Ironic…Huh?"

Miles grumbled under his breath, "Have you sit down with Bass; you'll have his head spinning in two minutes."

Nora informed, "There are rebel fighters…People trying to restore the United States."

Dodger corrected, "Rebels would be Confederates from the first Civil War. This would be the second Civil War and you would be Yankees."

Miles nodded in agreement, "Actually, you have a point."

Charlie asked, "There was a first civil war?"

"It was over a hundred years ago, Charlie." Her uncle then commented, "The North went to war with the South. The South lost."

Dodger pointed at her, "So, your name is Charlie."

She nodded, "Short for Charlotte."

"That's a lovely name," stated Dodger.

"Thank you," she smiled still trying to figure the woman out. She seemed very knowledgeable but also mysterious.

"I'm Nora," stated Nora who then handed the can of peaches to Dodger. "Thank you for the food."

"Oh, I have more," assured Dodger, "anyone like corned beef? After the blackout I grabbed as much as I could. I figured it would be the last thing anyone would actually eat next to dog food."

Nora shrugged, "Haven't had that since I was little."

Charlie admitted, "I never had it in a can."

Miles looked at the old can and recalled his days in the military, "That stuff is gross."

"I happen to like it," remarked Dodger.

"I would rather eat an MRE than that," stated Miles.

"I tried those after the blackout," replied Dodger. "Now that stuff was gross." She opened the can took the fork and dug out a heaping mouthful. Then as she enjoyed her dinner she passed the can for down to Miles.

He took the canned meat and reluctantly took a mouthful; gulped it down and handed the can off to Charlie. He then washed it down with a swig of water.

"That stuff is still nasty," he informed.

Charlie shrugged while eating her helping, "Not that bad."

"It's bad but needed," he rebutted. "What else ya got? Canned liver and onions?"

Dodger laughed, "No…But cute."

Charlie looked at Nora, "What so funny about liver and onions?"

Nora shrugged, "No idea."

Dodger grabbed one more can, "I got canned salt-fee green beans…Equally gross and just as disgusting!"

Miles nodded, "Yeah, those are gross. So, where are you heading?"

"West," she informed. "I think Colorado."

Alarmed Miles asked, "What for?"

Dodger gave a cockeyed look, "Come on, you were military. You know they had all this top-secret shit out there. I bet that's where the blackout came from."

"Why do you think this is military?" he asked.

Dodger asked, "Who else would be dumb enough to do this type of shit?"

Charlie asked, "But what makes you think it's man-made?"

"No lightening," replied Dodger. "I haven't seen lightening in fifteen years. No one has. Only something man-made could do that. It's like a sponge in the air. The air feels different."

Miles remarked careful not to disclose information, "It feels the same to me."

Dodger shook her head, "No, it's not the same. It's heavier, thinker…Like a sponge. It's everywhere, in us, around us…Everywhere. It absorbs energy like a sponge and it's very difficult to ring that sponge out. Energy used to flow all around us, through us…It was everywhere. Tesla knew it to be true. This…This is something else. That air has changed."

The three looked at one another in the knowledge of the tower.

Miles gulped, "Maybe you're right. But what are gonna do in Colorado?"

"Find the source and turn it off," she stated.

"How are you gonna do that?" he asked.

"I have no idea," she remarked. "But it needs to be turned off before it kills us all. Whatever it is…It is in us. We all have electricity in our bodies. Our hearts and minds have electricity in it, it keeps our hearts beating. People are already getting sick from it. They are going insane. I mean it's been fifteen years and people are getting more ruthless, more paranoid and sicker. These things are making people sick. The old west wasn't like this. We weren't that brutal…It's in the air…It's whatever caused the blackout is making people go crazy."

"You sure about that?" asked Miles who suddenly wondered if perhaps Bass was now more than just unhinged but rather affected by the technology as well.

Dodger nodded with certainty, "If it can stop the lightening than it can play with our minds. It has to stop. Every passing day the air gets heavier and thicker. It's like it's…Multiplying. I cannot explain what I am feeling but I know this is not natural."

"We are heading to Georgia Federation," stated Miles. "Would you mind coming with us?"

"I have to get to Colorado," replied Dodger.

Miles rebuked her, "No, you need to come with us. You are right! There is something in the air causing this."

"What is it?" asked Dodger.

"Little tiny machines that absorb electricity; it was a weapon designed by the military that got out of hand," he informed.

"It's not coming from Georgia," she told them. "I can feel these things. It's coming for Colorado."

"The fact that you can feel them makes you valuable," stated Miles. "We will shut it down…But we need to get to Georgia first."

"So I am right? There is something man-made in the air that is causing this?" she asked rather surprised. She thought for sure they would laugh at her.

"I think you might be right about it making people crazy too," assured Miles. "I think it might have affected my best friend." He gave a helpless glance to Charlie and Nora who wondered themselves if the technology had a hand in the ruthlessness that engulfed Bass

"I can't cure him," she told him. "These things are in the air we breathe, they are multiplying. Even if I take them out of his blood it will find a way back in," she then closed her eyes hoping she didn't let too much information slip.

Nora asked, "What did you mean by that? Can you stop these things?"

"No I can't stop them," Dodger shook her head. "They are in my body too. I struggle with things every day."

"But you can feel the nanites," stated Nora. "What else can you do?"

"Nothing," she sharply replied.

At that moment Miles was sure this stranger was holding back vital information. Just a few years ago he would have ordered her torture for that information but he had changed. He knew he couldn't just let this stranger wander off. He needed to find out her secret.

"We'll talk about it later," he assured.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Miles wondered just how he ended up in the situation. How could he let that happen? He never would have agreed to such a request before but for some odd reason he just couldn't say "no" to Dodger.

There he was sleeping on the ground in a bug infested forest while all the "girls" slept in the tent. He assured himself that Nora would keep an eye on the situation and he would play guard. But instead he ended up listening to three high pitched voices whispering and giggling like a bunch of girl scouts half the night. And for a brief moment that's was exactly what it felt like…Camping with a bunch of girl scouts and having "fun." The only thing missing was roasting marshmallows…And he had no doubt that Dodger could probably pull that one off too. He imagined a package of marshmallows magically appear from her bag along with graham crackers and chocolate bars.

He swatted at the fly and got himself up to stoke the fire and prepare something to eat. He took the opportunity to look into Dodger's bag for any additional food…Fully expecting to find some sort of long forgotten goodie.

He pulled out a small black case that was zippered shut. Curiously he opened the case and found himself staring at a blood glucose meter kit; he cocked an eyebrow.

"What's she doing with this?" he wondered. He then rummaged through the bag some more. He found a bottle of corn syrup. Not quite the marshmallows he imagined but something he did not expect to find. Then he found a metal flashlight.

"A flashlight?" he asked himself. He tried to turn it on but it seemed dead. It also seemed very light. He opened it up and found no batteries. "What the hell is she doing with this?" He placed the light on the ground and continued his search. He found a few more cans of food, a toiletry kit and a MP3 player with headphones. He tried to turn the player on but it seemed dead.

Nora emerged from the tent first; she stretched for she found she slept well even though she was a light sleeper. She looked over at Miles and the pack.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

Miles looked up and replied, "Inspecting her pack."

Nora cautioned, "Are you sure you should be doing that?"

"Why not?" he asked. "Gotta get more information on her."

"But…I don't think she will appreciate that," argued Nora.

Miles replied, "I don't care."

Charlie emerged next from the tent and stretched, "Wow, haven't slept that good in years," she commented. She looked down at her uncle, "What are you doing?"

"Inspecting her pack," he informed nonchalantly.

Charlie grew rather upset at his attitude, she rebuked, "That's not fair to her. Now put that stuff away." Then she looked at the items he had taken and placed on the ground, "What is all that stuff?"

He replied, "This is a diabetic kit, an MP3 player and an old flashlight. That's a bottle of corn syrup. I'm guessing she uses it for her sugar."

"She diabetic?" asked Charlie. "That can kill you. Diabetics don't last long."

Nora suggested, "Unless she's borderline and doesn't need medication yet."

Dodger emerged next from the tent; she looked about and found her belonging placed neatly on the ground before Miles and his hands in her pack. She grew annoyed.

"Find anything interesting?" she asked.

Miles stated, "You wanna tell me about this?"

"About what?" she retorted.

He waved around him, "About all this?"

"What about it?" she rebutted.

He grew irritated as she refused to cooperate; he growled, "About all this! A MP3 player, a flashlight with no batteries, a diabetic kit and corn syrup. What is all this?"

She shrugged, "I have a metabolic disorder, I like music and I don't like the dark."

His shoulders slunk, "Why do you have it?"

"I was born with a metabolic disorder," she innocently replied.

Charlie wondered, "Is that why you have corn syrup?"

"Catch on quick," Dodger smiled. "You're smart kid. When my sugar level tanks I drink some corn syrup….Not as good as the old glucose tube but it will do for now."

Charlie wondered, "Do you take medications for diabetes?"

Dodger shook her head, "No, my sugar levels will tank…Not the other way."

"Oh," Charlie stood in thought concerned for her new friend's health.

Charlie asking questions in regards to her health gave Dodger hope for not many people would show such genuine concern anymore. Her uncle certainly didn't seem too show any concern for her health but rather was fixated on objects she carried that required power to operate.

Miles asked candidly, "Why do you carry this stuff when there is no power to operate any of it?"

She started to gather her belongings ignoring his request.

He grabbed her by the arm and got in her face with a stern look, "Answer me," he demanded.

She stopped and stared directly into his eyes; she was obviously angry as she spoke, "How dare you? You have no right to go through my stuff. You violated my rights and my property and then sit here like the king of the world and demand that I answer your questions. Who do you think you are?"

Nora interrupted, "He's Miles Matheson."

Dodger pondered the information, "You mean he's the fucking moron who started the Monroe Militia and that fucking dictatorship?"

Miles rebutted, "It wasn't supposed to have been like that. That's why I left." He couldn't believe he found himself on the offensive in such short time. He easily could of overcome Dodger, slit her throat, beat her…Restrain her but instead he felt like a little boy sitting the principal's office and needed to explain what went so wrong.

She grabbed her belongings and scolded him, "You idiot. Why did you not consult legal counsel before starting that crap?"

His mouth dropped, wagging his head he shrugged helplessly, "I don't know. It was chaos. What legal counsel? There wasn't any?"

"Bull fucking shit," she huffed. "You set your asses up in Philadelphia…Home of Liberty Bell and tons of legal books. You know how to read, don't you?"

"I'm not a lawyer," he rebutted.

She rolled her eyes, "Neither were the founding fathers. They were merchants and business men."

He back tracked, "Now…That's not fair comparing me to them."

She yelled at him, "I wasn't comparing you to them. I was using them as an example of how to do it the right way…Nimrod."

"Well they had it much easier than I did," he winced as the words passed his lips. He couldn't believe he just said that and neither could Charlie or Nora who stood in amusement.

"Easier?" asked Dodger. "They just got done fighting a war! They had to start everything from scratch and guess what…They didn't have electricity either!"

He surrendered, "Alright…You made your point. You're a stranger and I was just checking to be sure you weren't…You know."

She really didn't buy the excuse; she cocked an eye, "A what? A crazed serial killer?"

He shrugged, "Well…Yeah."

She placed her head in the palm of her hand and gave a loud sigh, "Oh my god…No wonder they are so fucked up."

He was tired of the verbal bashing and revolted, "Hey, you weren't there. Yeah, I fucked up…But everything just collapsed and there was no law, no order and people were starving to death. I did what I had to do. Okay? It's a brutal out there and that kind of attitude will get you killed."

"There were 350 million people in the US when the blackout hit. 90% died in the first year due to starvation. By the third year crops and fields were being farmed and farming communities make up for 90% of the population today. Meaning 10% of the population is terrorizing 90% of the population because they are too fucking lazy and greedy to run their own damn farm…Then add in those damn in the air that are making everyone insane. Only chaos would be in the first 3 years…Not the last fifteen years."

"Exactly," he agreed. "That's why I left."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "But you left a maniac in charge."

"I really had no choice," he conceded. "I tried to kill him but I couldn't."

"You do realize there are legal remedies to remove someone who is imbalanced?" She then looked at him and smirked, "Had you bothered to follow the laws already in place."

"I'm not a fucking lawyer," he rebutted.

"Just put my things back," she instructed holding open her bag.

"Fine," he began tossing the items in the pack.

"Neatly," she insisted.

"Why don't you do it yourself?" he asked.

She rebutted, "You made this mess; you clean it up."

"Yes ma'am," he grunted and threw in another item.

**Later**

Dodger found herself following her new comrades towards Georgia. She wondered how she ended up in the situation. She had always avoided groups since the blackout. She isolated herself to an extreme measure to ensure her own safety for she feared what would happen to her if people found out her secret. Would she be accused? Would they use her or kill her? She wasn't sure and thus simply avoided conflict and any situation that could lead to danger. But there she was, hiking towards Georgia with Miles Matheson, the notorious General from the crazed Monroe Republic. She tried to keep her distance by hiding behind Charlie.

They had been hiking for hours and needed to rest. Miles came across a small clearing by a fresh water stream. He looked about to ensure it was safe.

"This will do," he nodded.

They all plopped down for a moment on nearby downed trees. Miles took the canteens and headed towards the stream to fill them.

Charlie asked Nora, "Got any rations? I'm out."

Nora looked inside her pack, "Pretty low."

Dodger asked, "You good with that bow?"

Charlie nodded, "Pretty good."

She motioned, "I bet there is some fish swimming further down that stream."

"Maybe," agreed Charlie.

"You and Nora get us some fish and I'll get a small fire going to cook it," suggested Dodger.

"Sounds good," agreed Nora.

Dodger started gathering some small dry branches; she dug out a fire starter kit from her pack.

Charlie hesitated; she wasn't sure why Dodger seemed to need both of them to go fishing.

Nora started off, "Come on Charlie."

"Okay," she agreed and reluctantly started upstream.

Dodger got the fire started and laid back against a log. She was actually very tired. She found her bottle of corn syrup and took another swig. Then she dug out her MP3 player and placed the headphone on, intended to just listen for a few minutes to help relax. As the music started to fill her ears she drifted off to sleep by the log.

Miles returned to the small rest area and found Dodger lying against a log; she appeared to be asleep wearing the headphones and the player resting on her belly. Curiously he knelt down and looked at the player. It appeared to be on. He reached over and carefully removed the headphones and placed them over his ears. He couldn't believe it…Music. He was hearing music once more. He picked up the little player and the music suddenly stopped.

"What the hell?" he asked.

Dodger stirred and suddenly forced herself to wake up. She looked up at Miles who was playing with her MP3 player. She snatched it from his hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He stuttered, "That was playing music. It was working."

She tried to con him, "No it wasn't. It hasn't worked since the blackout."

"Then why were you listening to it?" he asked.

She lied, "I wasn't…I was remembering what it was like to listen to it when I fell asleep. You know…A keepsake."

"Don't lie to me," he argued. "That thing was working."

"It was not," she spouted.

Nora and Charlie heard Miles yelling and hurried back fearing there was trouble. They found Miles and Dodger arguing over a little red device and a pair of headphones.

"Let me see it," he tried to snatch it back from her.

She held it behind her head, "No, stop touching my stuff."

He was hovering over her trying to reach the player. To Nora and Charlie they resembled two kids arguing over a toy.

"I want to see it," he demanded.

"It's mine," she replied.

Charlie asked, "What is going on?"

Dodger pointed her finger at Miles, "He started it."

"She has an MP3 player and it was working," he informed. He stood back. "Stand up, Dodger."

"Why?" she asked.

He crossed his arms, "Just do it."

She placed her player in her pack and stood up; she waved her arms about and asked, "What?"

He started to pat down her pockets, "You have a pendant."

"I have a what?" she asked unsure what he talking about.

"One of things," he replied still looking. He found nothing in her pockets and then looked around her neck for the device. He found nothing. "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" she shrugged.

"You know what!" he demanded. He was now certain he had a spy on his hands. She was obviously holding out on them, maybe even following them.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she informed rather confused.

"Don't know what I am talking about," he laughed and glanced to Nora and Charlie. He then made a move, went for Dodger's throat with his bare hand, pushed her up against a tree. "Don't lie to me. You're a spy! Who are you working for?"

The temperature in the air started to drop dramatically. Both Nora and Charlie noticed how cold it suddenly became.

Nora asked, "You feel that?"

"I do," stated Charlie.

"What?" asked Miles.

Charlie looked wide-eyed, "It's really cold."

He looked at the ground trying to figure the source and then at Dodger, who stared at him with a very disturbed look. Suddenly he felt a jolt of electricity that knocked him back and off his feet. He suddenly found himself lying on the ground looking up at the sky barely able to breathe.

Dodger straddled him around his chest, she placed the palm of her hand over his heart and made sure he could feel the energy.

"Do you feel that?" she asked.

His expression of shock was most telling.

She continued, "You listen to me and you listen good. Like those little robots I can absorb energy. I have been able to do that ever since I was a kid. I can take the energy right out of the air and funnel it where ever I choose. I can start a heart or I can stop a heart. You understand that?"

Wide-eyed he nodded feeling the electricity building above his heart.

"If you ever attack me again, I will unload what would be equivalent to a high voltage power line directly onto you. Got it?"

He nodded slowly.

"Good," she removed her hand and stood up and looked over at the girls.

Charlie suddenly lifted her crossbow upon realizing her uncle could have been killed. She aimed it at Dodger.

Nora cautioned, "Charlie…Don't."

Dodger looked at her, "If I wanted to kill him I could have without any warning. I could have killed all three of you when you walked into my camp but I chose to give you a chance. This is why I need to avoid people, why I need to stay away from Monroe's men…You know what they will do if they find me?"

Charlie stuttered, "Wh-what are you?"

"I was born like this," Dodger explained, "It's part of the very rare metabolic disorder I have. I have hid it all my life. Look," Dodger went to her bag and got her flashlight and held it before them. It shined brightly, "See, it works best with all metal because it conducts. I'm a walking conductor."

Miles held up his hand from the ground, "Charlie…Put the bow down. She's not gonna hurt you." He hauled himself up, rubbing his chest and catching his breath, "What did you hit me with? Holy crap!"

"I hit you with what would be the equivalent to a stun gun but magnified," she informed.

He was still breathing hard but managed to ask, "You pulled the energy right out of the air and used it as a weapon?"

"You were chocking me you idiot," she rebutted.

He laid back still reeling, "I will never do that again…Trust me."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Miles lead the trio of women deeper through the woods. Dodger found herself once again between Charlie and Nora. The group remained silent for the most part for no one really knew what to say after the morning's events.

Charlie finally asked, "So, Dodger…You can um….Zap people?"

Dodger nodded grudgingly, "Yup."

Nora asked, "You don't feel the zap yourself though?"

Dodger explained, "I feel a tingling feeling as it builds but not like what Miles got."

Miles grumbled to himself, "I bet."

Nora asked, "You could do that before the blackout?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I could and it was much easier for me to do it then. These things that caused the blackout…They make it harder for me now."

Charlie asked, "It was easier for you to zap someone? Have you ever killed anyone doing that?"

Dodger replied, "I can honestly say that I have never killed anyone. Matter of fact after the blackout I was trying to help people…But that didn't go too far. Food lines dried up and people just went nuts. It's amazing what hunger can turn someone into."

Charlie had to agree, "You can get killed for stealing food."

Dodger grinned, "It never used to be that way, Charlie. People would donate food to the hungry because we had so much of it. The stores were stocked full of food and we even had soup kitchens to feed the homeless. Letting someone starve was considered the worst offense back then. Now, jeepers…They will kill you for can of dog chow."

Nora added, "I seem to recall something like that. My mother would gather old cans from our pantry and give them to poor people. Is that why you were willing to share those peaches with us? Cause, frankly I thought you were gonna kill us later."

Dodger came to a stop and she looked back at Nora, "Kill you? You honestly thought I was some crazy maniac who was gonna kill you?"

Nora shrugged, "People don't do that kind of thing."

Dodger huffed, "Well, maybe more should!"

Miles countered, "Hell, I thought you setting a trap too. No one just shares a can fruit? I fully expected you to try to eat one of us later."

Dodger's expression soured, "Cannibalism?"

Miles informed, "I saw it happen that first few years."

She wondered, "Did you?"

He balked, "No! I would kill any man trying to harm my friends though." He stated as an afterthought, "Or woman."

Dodger asked, "Would you kill any man or woman trying to harm me?"

He puckered in thought, "Yeah," he finally nodded.

"Why?" she asked, "I'm not your friend."

"Cause you have that thing you can do and frankly it could come in handy," he explained.

"Oh, some I'm nothing more than a piece of military equipment to the Great Miles Matheson," she taunted.

He stared her down, "No," he shook his finger, "You are a great pain in the ass! However, you have a talent that could help us…Which makes you valuable."

She sarcastically balked, "Not my lovely flowing personality? Or how about my hot body? No, just my ability to zap people."

Miles nixed any challenge, "You are strategic asset and nothing more, Dodger. Don't make me shoot you."

Dodger smirked, "I would knock you on your ass before you could pull the trigger."

Charlie grew tired of the banter, "Will you two stop it? I'm getting tired of you two bickering. Dodger, we do need you…Miles is right you are strategic asset and we are in the middle of a war. Miles please stop it! You know damn well she really can knock you on your ass and leave us."

"Fine," he muttered. "Just stay out of the way and do what are told, Dodger."

She huffed, "Well, fuck you! I'm not some solider to boss around."

Miles mouth dropped. Did she just say that to him? He couldn't believe it. He was about to say something to her but instead said it to Charlie.

"Charlie, this is your problem. You handle it," he then promptly turned and started walking.

Charlie looked at Dodger, "Um…Please try to get along with my uncle. I know he's kind of difficult but it would be better for us if you two got along."

Dodger shrugged, "I'll try to get along with General Hard-ass…I promise."

Nora muttered to herself, "Oh boy."

**Later**

After emerging from the woods Miles lead the women onto a dirt road traveling south. They walked for a distance and soon heard the sound of horses and men yelling. Quickly they took cover to avoid being spotted.

There before them was a rider sitting high on his horse, a rifle in hand. He sported the colors of the Monroe Militia and his chubby face and pot belly indicated he was well fed.

Not far behind the chubby rider were a four rows of prisoners who had been turned into slaves that were being driven by another, yet skinnier rider in the rear to pull a very heavy piece of military equipment…An Abraham's tank.

Dodger couldn't believe what she was witnessing. It seemed insane to her for the tank could not run without any power and driving nearly a hundred prisoners to move the metal beast seemed like a nightmare from the Roman Empire.

"What are they doing?' she couldn't help but ask.

Nora explained, "Monroe is using slaves to move heavy military equipment around for his war."

Dodger gave a funny look, "He can't operate it!" 

"He can," informed Charlie.

"What?" she asked. "How?"

Charlie explained, "With these pendants that can interrupt the nanites. He's got an amplifier to expand the range up to a half mile."

"Oh," Dodger puckered in thought. "So, what are we gonna do about this?"

Miles cautioned, "Nothing…We are gonna let them go by and continue on our way."

Dodger gave a funny look, "You really are a stupid military genius…Aren't you?"

Miles rebuked, "We cannot risk this now. We can't free them. It's stupid to think we can. And we can't do anything with that tank without a pendant."

Dodger gave him a look, "Duh! I can supply power to the tank."

Miles asked, "For how long can you maintain it though?"

Dodger admitted, "It does drain me. It makes my sugar level drop but I have enough corn syrup I think we can get a hold of that weapon and at least place it someplace Monroe can't find it."

Miles pondered the information; as long as Dodger had enough sugar she could act as a pendant and power the machine. He had to admit it was tempting to say the least. His imagination got the better of him as he imagined himself driving into Atlanta in a tank as a present to the President of the Georgia Federation.

"Okay, Dodger," he grinned, "Let's see if you are worth the risk we are taking here. Charlie, go ahead and wait in the road to draw their attention."

Dodger asked, "Why are you sending your niece into harm's way like that?"

"She's the distraction," he grinned.

Dodger countered, "She's an archer. She needs to be in the woods to take out the riders with guns."

"Who will distract them?" he asked.

Nora volunteered, "I can."

Dodger shook her head, "No, you are an archer too. I should go, I suck at archery."

Miles gave her a look, "You suck at archery and think you should go down there and stand in front of them? Are you insane?"

Dodger explained, "Hey, I can knock them down and distract them. You guys can shoot them. That's how I used to get away from the cops in my bank robbing days. I knocked them down and ran. I can do that."

"Fine," he exhaled. "You go distract them."

As Dodger happily made her way towards the road Charlie couldn't help but ask, "Why did you give in?"

Miles muttered, "You try reasoning with that crazy woman!"

"I don't think she's crazy," stated Charlie.

Nora disagreed, "She's completely nuts…But in a good way."

Charlie muttered to herself, "She used to rob banks…Now, she is about to help us steal a tank…Maybe she is nuts?"

Dodger stood before the militia on the road. She seemed unarmed and appeared to be someone who was lost. The lead rider drew his horse to a halt.

He looked down on her and asked, "You in the road, what you doing here?"

She shrugged, "I'm a little lost."

"Lost?" he scuffed.

"Yeah," she nodded and then slowly recalled an old joke, "I'm looking for Uranus."

He gave a funny look, "Never heard of it."

She rolled her eye, "You never heard of the planetary system?"

He shook his head, "Nope. That's a planet? What ya looking for a planet for?"

She muttered, "Oh gawd, you really do have your head stuck up your ass."

The rider sneered, "Did you just insult an officer of the Monroe Militia."

She shook her head in surprise, "If you just figured that out now then you really shouldn't be an officer. I've seen donut eating cops with more brains than you."

"Why you…I can arrest you for that," he slung his rifle over and leveled it onto her head.

Miles watched from above and placed the palm of his hand against his forehead, "Jesus Christ! She's gonna get her ass shot off."

Charlie smirked, "Even I got the Uranus joke…Notice the temperature dropping Miles."

"Yup, it's getting cold," he agreed. He waited to see what the Dodger would do.

The lead rider ordered her, "Hands up. You're under arrest."

She placed her hands above her head as she absorbed the energy from the air. She looked at the leader and gave one warning.

"If you surrender to me now…I will go easy on you."

The chubby rider laughed, "What?"

Nora let lose an arrow taking out the rear rider. The leader turned back to see his fellow militia man fall from the horse and lay motionless on the ground.

He turned his attention to Dodger and aimed it at her head. He squeezed off a shot.

Dodger did something Miles did not expect; she folded in on herself, going to her knees and cradling her head, the bullet ricocheting off some sort of shield and hit a tree.

Miles then placed an arrow right into the rifleman's side. The lead rider fell from his horse. Guards on the ground started firing widely into the trees in hopes of hitting an archer. Then they quickly fell back to the cover of the tank.

Arrows started filling the air as the only two riflemen were now dead. Dodger looked at the slaves who huddled for cover still in chains. The small group of militia men armed with arrows hiding behind a tank. She lined herself up to deliver a massive shock to the militiamen. She started to absorb the energy ready to knock the whole group down. Then Miles was right smack dab in the middle of where she wanted to attack.

She lowered her hands, "Will you fucking move?" she yelled out.

Miles had now engaged the men in a sword fight of epic proportions; five men against him and Nora. Charlie failed even get a clean shot; instead she came over to Dodger to check on her friend.

Dodger looked at her and stated, "If your uncle would get his ass out of the way I could knock them all down."

"I'm sure Miles has it under control," she noted.

Nora found herself standing by and watching Miles take on the last three militiamen. Even she felt she was now in the way, she walked over to Charlie and Dodger.

"Good work, Dodger….Didn't know you could do that," she told her.

"If dips hit would get out of the way I could knock out the last three," she informed.

Nora shrugged, "I thought you kind of enjoyed shocking Miles."

"I do," she admitted and decided that only two boys let were no match for Miles Matheson and she needed to save their young lives. With Nora and Charlie safely out of the way Dodger let loose a shockwave that knocked all the men off their feet…Including Miles.

Dazed Miles managed to get less of a shock by luck alone; he looked at his two opponents out cold and then shook the fog from his head. He then looked at Dodger and the girls.

He asked, "Why did you do that?"

Dodger asked, "Do you have to kill everybody?"

"They are gonna go back to Monroe and tell him about you and us," he informed. He placed his sword at the throat of one of the young men who was starting to come around. Before he could finish the young man off Dodger stopped him with another jolt, sending his flying.

Miles shook off the energy and reached for his gun, he leveled it on her, "You do that again and I will shoot you."

"Will it be enough?" she asked. "Will killing me be enough? When will it be enough? Haven't enough already died? Or do you need more blood?" she asked.

"We can't take prisoners," he told her.

She replied, "We can't afford to keep killing." She walked over to the two surviving militia men who were mere teenage boys. She knelt down beside the one who Miles nearly killed, "Listen to me…This has to end. President Monroe is insane. You do not need to be in the militia. Did they force you to join like the rest?"

The young boy nodded unsure what to make of the situation.

"I'm the Artful Dodger; I used to rob banks in New York City before the blackout. You wanna know a secret?"

The boy slowly nodded unsure just what to do.

"The state, any state, does not grant you rights…You are born with them," she informed. "The laws are designed to keep the state in line, not you. Do you understand?"

He nodded slowly still wondering if he was going to be killed.

"Good," she held out a hand. "Now get to your feet and release these people…They are not prisoners."

The boy stuttered, "They were law breakers."

"No," she shook her head, "The laws are unjust. No man or woman shall be held by an unjust law. Their natural born rights always precede that and the laws the Monroe Republic wrote are unjust. They were written by men who did not understand the nature of law to begin with." She looked at Miles, "Isn't that right Mr. Matheson? Neither you nor Monroe understood law when you wrote that?"

He admitted lowering the weapon, "Yeah…We're not lawyers." He started to follow her lead, she was seeding a resistance movement to the laws he had passed, "The laws are crap. None of it was real. We were desperate, we didn't know any better. It has to be overturned and thrown out. The Bill of Rights needs to be instated once more from the old government."

The boy stared, "General Matheson…"

He held up his hand, "No…No…It's 'Mr. Matheson' now."

"You're not gonna kill me?" he asked.

He looked at Dodger and then glanced down at his feet for a second, "No…I'm not. You go back and tell everyone we screwed up and the Monroe Republic needs a bill of rights."

Dodger added, "You tell everybody the blackout is man-made and we are gonna turn the power back on. We are going to light the way."

The boy gasped, "Turn the power back on?"

"Yeah, the old government accidentally turned it off and now we have to fix it," she told him. "Tell everybody we are gonna get power back and Mr. Matheson is gonna light the way for us. Okay?"

"Really?" he asked.

Miles certainly did not want that information public but it was too late now; he exhaled unenthused, "Yeah…Really."

The boy scrambled to his feet and started to unlock the chains of the people who all stood in witness, whispering about themselves in the revelation.

Miles spoke to them as well, "We are gonna get the power back on…Okay."

One of the prisoners spoke up, "When?"

Miles shrugged, "Don't know….It's a long walk from here."

Another asked, "How do we know you can get the power back? Nothing works anymore."

Dodger removed her flashlight from her bag, "We can get the power back…See." She chose not to go further and let them assume they had working batteries.

"By god you can," the prisoner stated.

"Go," ordered Miles. "All of you go now. Go home!"

They slowly started to move out upon their release. Miles grabbed Dodger by the arm and dragged her behind a tree.

"For now on…You do as I say…Got it!" he scolded.

She grinned to herself, cupped his cheeks in her hands and gently kissed his lips, "As long as it's the right thing," she informed. Then she slipped out before he could reply leaving him standing like a deer in a set of headlights.

Charlie asked, "What was that about?"

Dodger stated, "Nothing much."

Charlie over at her uncle who stood absolutely dumbfounded. She wondered if she shocked him once more.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Miles couldn't believe he was driving an Abraham's tank. He wasn't a tanker pilot, had never driven a tank before but suddenly that big, heavy hunk of equipment felt good in his hands. For the moment he felt invincible. No one could stop them. Though he did not have any shells or ammunition for the tank's guns he found driving down a road in a huge metal best most satisfying. He grinned secretly as he worked the levers, creeping down the dirt road and thinking of the look on the faces of the people of Georgia as he rolled into town.

Neither Charlie nor Nora knew anything about tanks. They took turns looking through the sight holes at the surrounds for any signs of trouble.

Nora looked over to Dodger who was seated behind them, her hands grasping the battery cables. She imitated the pendants in supply power but it was obviously taxing h. Dodger's skin was pale, her eyes a bit glossy and she seemed to be getting tired.

"How are you hanging in there, Dodger?" asked Nora.

"I need to check my blood sugar," she informed.

Charlie went to her aid, "I can do it. What do you need me to do?" She knew he uncle would not want to stop the tank now they were actually moving.

Dodger held up her finger, "Open my case and use the lancet to prick the side of my finger."

Charlie found the lancet device and figured how to pull back the spring; she then placed the end against the side of the fingertip and pushed the button. She squeezed the finger to get a drop of blood.

"Okay, now what?" asked Charlie.

"Put a test strip in the monitor and place it on my leg, I can't hold it without letting go of the power cables," instructed Dodger.

Charlie complied and the meter came to life.

Dodger then placed her finger by the test strip and let the blood flow to the tester, "What's it read?" she asked.

Charlie cranked her head to read the numbers, "Sixty-five," she stated. "Is that good or bad?"

"Anything below seventy is bad," Dodger informed. "I need the corn syrup."

As Charlie put the blood monitor kit away Nora had retrieved the corn syrup bottle, she noted it was now only half full.

"Will you have enough to get us to Georgia?" asked Nora.

Dodger shook her head, "No, about fifty miles. If my sugar drops too low I could die."

Nora held the bottle to Dodger's lips and she took a large gulp.

Miles pondered the situation; Dodger would need a whole case of corn syrup to get the tank to Georgia. He would be delivering a tank with no shells or ammunition, and though the glory would be nice, he knew it would be a useless gesture and no guarantee the Georgia Federation's president would even speak to him. The most he could do was get the tank across the state line.

Miles instructed, "We will get it over the border and then dump it someplace. Then we're on foot." He looked at Dodger who still looked very tired, "You able to make it?"

She asked, "How far to the border?"

"About forty miles," he informed.

"I can do that," she agreed.

Charlie stated, "Too bad we don't have a pendant."

Miles shook his head, "Pendant alone could not power this, Charlie…Would need the amplifier to go with it."

"No," she stated, "I mean for Dodger. If she wore it around her neck then I bet she would act like an amplifier."

Miles pondered the information, "That's possible."

"These pendants," asked Dodger, "How do they work?"

"I'm not really sure," replied Charlie. "Inside the pendants are these small things…Aaron called it a USB drive."

Dodger gave a funny look, "It's just a USB drive? They only hold information….Computer code."

Nora added, "I guess these little nano things are tiny computers the size of a virus."

"And the code on the USB drives must turn them off or give some sort of command," stated Dodger. "The pendants don't give you power, it controls the nanites. It gives out a command and the little nanites follow it. I'm physically trying to get power from the air and competing with things…If that pendant can turn off those nanites than I wouldn't be competing with them. I could have my full strength back."

Miles wondered, "Could you get us to Atlanta is you had your full strength?"

"If I had my full strength back I could power an airplane from one end of the country to another with nothing but a _Snicker's_ on the way," she snorted.

"I'll keep that in mind," stated Miles.

Charlie asked, "What's a _Snicker's_?"

"A candy bar," Dodger replied. "You don't remember what a _Snicker's_ is?"

"I remember eating a lot of ice cream when the blackout hit," she admitted.

Dodger licked her lips, "Ice cream…God, I could go for some ice cream…Chocolate chip mint."

Miles recalled to himself, "Ben's favorite."

Nora recalled, "I remember ice cream…I always had chocolate."

"What's your favorite, Mr. Matheson?" asked Dodger.

"_Cherry Garcia_," he replied.

"You hippie," squawked Dodger, "_Ben and Jerry's_…You tree hugging hippie."

He retorted, "They made damn good ice cream." He then soured at being accused of being a hippie, "So what if they were hippies? I liked the ice cream. Heck, Ben had whole freezer full of it."

Charlie asked Nora, "What's a hippie?"

Nora shrugged, "No idea."

Charlie pondered, "Why do they hug trees?"

"I don't know," Nora replied.

**Later**

After crossings the boarder they hid the tank in a grove of trees and then made their way towards an outpost to effectively steal Georgia Federation uniforms. As they came across a small outpost in a large field it soon became clear that something was wrong. Miles kicked in the door only to find three dead soldiers and the spare uniforms missing. He also discovered a rather large knife but refused to speak much about the secret message.

Charlie asked, "What are we gonna wear now?"

All eyes gazed at the dead fly infested bodies.

Miles remarked, "We will have to take those uniforms."

Dodger asked, "There are only three; what will I wear?"

Miles found a pair of chain-link cuffs and held them up before her, "These."

She gave a funny look, "What?"

"You will have to go in as our prisoner…Can't have you walking through Atlanta with us without looking suspicious."

Dodger grudgingly agreed, "Okay, but don't lock them."

Miles smirked, "Oh, I won't."

She held up her hands and he gleefully placed the chains on her and then locked them out of spite alone.

"I said not to lock them," she told him.

He snickered, "Must have slipped my mind after you jolted me so many times."

"Payback, huh?" she asked.

He grinned to himself, "It's a bitch."

She instructed, "Then give the keys to Charlie or Nora. I don't trust you with them…You might lose them."

He dangled the keys tauntingly before her, "Lose them?"

She warned, "I don't have much strength left after powering that tank but I have enough to knock you on your ass one more time," she threatened. "Give the keys to Charlie."

He handed them to his niece and instructed, "Don't let her out until I say so."

Charlie rolled her eyes, "I'm not playing your games," and started to unlock the chains.

Dodger stopped her, "Leave them locked until we get there…It will look more authentic, Charlie. Unlock them when I tell you too."

Miles countered, "When I tell you too."

Charlie looked rather confused for a moment; unsure just who she should listen too.

Nora stated, "When I tell you too, Charlie. These two have some love-hate thing going."

Miles huffed, "Do not."

Dodger sarcastically stated, "I love you too, dear."

Charlie asked, "Love-hate thing?"

Miles added, "We love to hate each other." He then grabbed a body, "Let's get going."

**Atlanta**

Dodger stood between Nora and Charlie as Miles lead the way into the city. The first thing they noticed was steam powered busses going by. The streets were alive with smiling people, a warm and welcoming atmosphere and loads of fresh foods peddled by street vendors.

"Welcome to Atlanta," stated Miles. "Warm weather makes all year food production possible. This place is filled with rich people…It's a whole other world."

Dodger stated, "Nora, unlock me now. I can slip away while you guys look for the nuke."

Charlie asked, "Aren't you gonna help us look?"

"How are you gonna find it?" asked Dodger. "Hell, I could accidentally set the thing off."

After Charlie unlocked the chains Miles handed Charlie and Nora each a flashlight; he instructed, "When the light goes on you are in range." He looked at Dodger, "You're right, you can't help us and you might even set it off. You need to get the hell away from here."

Dodger had other plans but lied, "You're right, Miles. I will be going…Leaving now. I'm gonna hop a train towards Texas and make my way to Colorado from there."

Miles thought for sure this would be the last time he ever the woman; he felt a pit form in his stomach but he gulped it down not wanting to show any emotions. For a moment his expression softened as he looked into her big brown eyes.

"Be careful and good luck," was all he would say.

Charlie stated, "Wait a minute, Dodger you can't leave! We need you! No one else can do what you can do. I know you can be near to help find the bomb but you can't just leave us."

Dodger wrapped her arms around Charlie and held her close; she whispered softly, "I will see you soon. I promise."

Nora gulped for she too didn't want to lose her new friend, "I guess I will see you someday."

Dodger then grabbed and pulled her closer to the embrace with herself and Charlie; she whispered, "Sooner than you think. I promise."

Miles stood watching the trio say goodbye. He shuffled his feet and looked at the ground for a moment. It suddenly hit him this ex-thief had stolen the hearts of his niece and partner and perhaps, she had stolen his as well.

"We have to go now," he told the girls. "Take care of yourself, Dodger."

She smiled, "You too, Miles."

Charlie asked, "Before you go…What's your real name?"

Dodger grinned, "Can't tell you that."

"Why not?" asked Charlie.

"It's safer if I don't give that info out," she informed. She gave more lingering look to Miles and then smiled and gave slight wave. She turned and walked away.

Miles watched until she was out of sight, "Good luck," he whispered then he looked at the two girls, "Come on, we got a bomb to find."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Miles stood before President Kelly Foster of the Georgia Federation with the remains of the bomb. He had gutted the device of anything of value leaving an empty shell.

"You took the warhead," screamed President Foster.

He balked, "I'm not leaving that with you."

"Where is it?" she demanded.

"Someplace safe," was all he revealed.

"Well if Monroe wants a war; he's got one," she rebutted. "I have twice as many men."

"Kelly," he started, "You're giving him exactly what he wants."

"I can take him on," she assured herself.

**Meanwhile**

On street below the capital building Nora and Charlie sat waiting for Miles to return from his meeting. It was a battle getting to Atlanta, getting the bomb and disposing of the warhead. Charlie sat silently wondering if Dodger had made it safely out of the city. She honestly thought she would never see her again even with her friend's assurance that she would.

Nora's ear perked up, "Do you hear something?"

Charlie came out of her thoughts and listened; she did indeed hear something but wasn't sure what she was hearing at first. The words seemed rather strange to her.

The words beamed from down the street; it rather loud, "Gunter, Glieben, Glausen, Globen…" followed by a very loud drum beat.

Charlie turned her head there in the middle of the street stood the Dodger, dressed in jeans blue jeans, a white tee-shirt and a tan leather jacket. Holding above her head was a large radio with a tape player. In the hay-day commonly referred to as a boom box!

Dodger stood holding the boom box above her head, a wire was wrapped around her wrist and went directly to the back battery panel; laid across her shoulders was a cord and microphone. The music started to play. Music Charlie had not heard in a very long time. The last time she heard the song was in Miles's car when she was little and her uncle sang the song to her as she laughed.

"Alright," the boom box played, "I got something to say…It's better to burn out than to fade away…" Dodger stood foot taping to beat and sang along with it as it played loudly.

Charlie asked, "What is she doing?"

Nora gasped, "I have no idea. I haven't heard that song since I was little."

Charley nodded in disbelief, "Miles used to sing it."

Nora lifted an eyebrow, "Miles…Singing?"

Dodger started to walk slowly as the music played on, singing with the words, "Gonna start a fire…C'mon…Rise up; gather round, rock this place to the ground."

Nora gasped, "Oh my god…What is she doing?"

The people of Atlanta hearing the music all started to gather around. Many of the older people recalled the song and it didn't take long before the crowd started singing with her.

"Rock on…Rock on…Drive me crazier…" the crowd cheered with the words, "No serenade, no fire brigade, just a pyromaniac…" suddenly the older men and women who had lighters started burning the flame. It was surreal, Dodger had touched on some long forgotten culture know as rock and roll.

Nora asked, "What are they doing?"

"I don't know," Charlie shrugged.

**Meanwhile**

President Foster looked down from her office window and the mob rocking to the old Def Leppard song, _Rock of Ages_, below.

"Who is that?" she asked pointing to Dodger.

Miles winced, "A funny thing happened on the way to Georgia. That's Dodger…She used to rob banks."

Foster's mouth dropped, "That Artful Dodger? The thief who drove Wall Street nuts right before the blackout? The Dodger is a woman? I knew it! How did you find her?"

"We stumbled across her on our way down," he admitted.

Foster asked, "How did she defeat the cops? They say she had some sort of energy weapon? Is she connected to the blackout?"

Miles shook his head, "Nope, she's just an insane ex-bank robber." He wanted to run down to the street, grab Dodger and smack her outside the head but kept his cool in fear of giving away her secret.

"Oh my god, how is she powering the radio?" asked Kelly.

"Um…" Miles tried to avoid the subject. "She's…Gifted…"

**Street**

Dodger worked up the crowd while Nora and Charlie just sat and enjoyed the show. They knew Dodger was powering the radio herself. They didn't know why or what the microphone was for but figured whatever she was up to it would be entertaining to say the least.

The song came to an end and Dodger turned off the tape player. She then took the microphone and waited just a moment for the crowd to settle down.

"Hello Atlanta," she mimicked a radio announcer, "How are you this fine day? Ya all like hearing the radio again?"

The crowd started to cheer curiously wondering how the radio was able to work after all even batteries seemed dead.

"Let me introduce myself," she told them, "I'm Terry…Some people call me Dodger."

Charlie miffed, "Why the hell wouldn't tell us her name?"

"Terry?" asked Nora. "What's so bad about that? I like that name."

"What's her last name?" wondered Charlie.

Dodger spoke into the mic, "As you can see this radio has power. This proves the blackout is man-made and it can be reversed. How would you like power back?"

The crowd roared.

"I'm gonna get the power back on but you have to listen to what I have to say here today and spread the word to everyone you know. Can you do that?"

The crowd went silent. Men and women looked at one another and slowly they began to nod.

Dodger continued, "You see back when the United States was a global empire they had war of conquest. Many people were duped into thinking these war were to fight criminals and terrorist. It wasn't…The wars were to make money for a select group of people. The department of Defense developed this weapon and they used it to try to take control of the Middle East but it got out of their control and took everyone's power. It's nano-technology. In the air are little tiny robots the size of a virus that are multiplying and absorbing all the energy….Sucking it up like a sponge and holding it. We can turn it off, like flipping a switch but as Tesla could tell you when there is energy is must go someplace…We would be looking at a huge energy surge that could be deadly. The nuclear power plants…They didn't melt down when the power stopped because the nanos are absorbing so much energy. But when that energy is released…It's gonna light us up like the Fourth of July. And you all need to get the word out! When the power comes back it's gonna surge like have you have never seen before. We need people to ground themselves, you have stored energy in your bodies, the nanites are inside each of us and they will release all that energy and if you are not grounded…You're gonna fry like being in an electric chair."

Charlie looked at Nora.

Nora gasped, "My god…I think she's right."

Dodger gave a final warning, "You need to be ready for the power to come back. We need to warn everyone in the entire world about the dangers. We need to be grounded and have the power plants ready for the surge."

Nora yelled out, "How are we gonna do that?"

Dodger smiled, "Radio! Low frequency radio waves…Something the nanites won't touch. Anyone here know mores code?"

A man standing in the crowd raised his hand, "I do. But how are you gonna power the radios to send the message?"

"Same way I am powering this one," she informed.

**Moments Later**

Miles caught up with Dodger right after her public stunt with the radio. He wanted to smack her, ground her for life, send her to her room with no dessert and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why he thought of her as a reckless teenager.

"Dodger," he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to the side to have a private word with her. But he could not for President Foster was right behind him and ever so interested in the new find.

"Miles," she smiled at him, "good to see you too."

President Foster stood behind Miles and immediately butted into the conversation; she held out her hand, "I'm President Kelly Foster."

Dodger made her acquaintance, "Pleasure to me you, Madam President."

"You and I need to talk, Miss…I didn't catch your last name," stated Foster, "Terry?"

"Dodger," she informed.

"Terry Dodger?" asked Foster. "I though the press named you Dodger?"

She nodded, "They did."

"Um," she gave a slightly confused look, "Do you have a last name?"

Dodger nodded, "Sure do."

"And?" asked the president.

"Classified," replied Dodger.

Foster gaped for a moment trying to figure out what was happening; she didn't know how Dodger powered the radio but understood she was willing to help get the power back on and send a message of warning.

Miles asked, "What are you doing here…Terry?"

"I was having a concert," she became meek, "kind of boring having a concert alone. You like Def Leppard…Right?"

Miles loved rock but couldn't tell her she happened to have guessed one of his all-time favorite songs; he gave a unenthused look, "I thought you were going?"

"Changed my mind," she informed. She then asked, "You by any chance found a pendant and amp when you took out the bomb?"

"That's classified," retorted Miles.

Dodger explained, "I need to borrow it to send out the message. I can't do it by myself."

Miles reminded, "You will only get a half mile with it."

She whispered in his ear, "If I hook it up to power lines, I can force a surge for a short time…Enough time to send Morse code over the lines. Anyone with a radio or TV still plugged in will get it. Heck, even a light bulb could flash it out."

He cocked an eyebrow, "You sure you can do that."

She nodded, "Yeah, I am. But I need your help."

He whispered, "After we send your message you are leaving…Right?"

"I'm going to Colorado from here," she assured.

"Promise?" he asked unsure if it was another fib.

"Cross my heart," she smirked. "Just need some sugar…I found a motorcycle I can use."

Miles agreed, "Okay…We send your message and then you leave and get out of my hair."

She rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, Miles…I have bigger fish to fry than you."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

With President Foster's approval the team set up an amplifier, pendant and Morse code station in a local power station directly to the power lines. Miles decided he would send the message out himself for he knew Morse code and did not want any civilian seeing Dodger use her gift. He had no idea what her last name was but as far as he was concerned it was her gift that was the real classified information. He figured she just wanted to keep her last name hidden in fear of retribution from her days as a bank robber. Yet, at the same time it really made no sense for the banks and the old government was now gone.

Dodger sat on a chair, holding power cables in her hands. The pendant and amplifier was right next to her. She had acquired more sugar and had spent a good portion of time getting liquid sugar into her system to prepare.

Miles tuned on the pendant and amplifier; he looked at Dodger with Nora and Charlie looking on from the fall wall. He let out breath.

"You ready?" he asked.

She nodded, "I can send out a surge of power, you need to piggyback it with the SOS."

"I can do that," assured Miles. "Ready when you are."

"Okay," Dodger looked at Nora, "You better stand by with a bottle of corn syrup for me…This is gonna drain me real fast."

Nora held up the glass bottle, "Right here"

"Good," she gave a nod. She closed her eyes and could feel the energy in the air flowing freely once more. She started to absorb the energy not just from the air but from the non-working nanaites that surrounded them. The temperature dropped considerably.

Charlie noted, "It's getting real cold," she could see her breath as she spoke.

Nora nodded in agreement, "Way colder than before…Freezing!"

Before Miles the electrical panel lit up, the whole power plant came to life and the dials indicated the pending power surge. He started the Morse code as the power surged into the lines and out to the world.

Across the globe for a brief moment everything started to come back on; lights started to flicker, radios buzzed with Morse code being carried through the speakers as well as televisions sets. Dodger held the surge fighting against the nanites for nearly one minute before it had drained her completely. Once again the nanites overtook the power and absorbed it.

She let go of the cables and fell against the back of her chair. The power had stopped. Her sugar had dropped and she looked to Nora and gave a slight wave.

"That was it?" asked Nora.

"That's the best I'm gonna do in this circumstance," stated Dodger taking the syrup. She gulped it down hoping she wouldn't lose consciousness.

Miles noted how ill she looked after the surge; he asked, "You sure you wanna go to Colorado? Maybe you should stay and recover a bit."

Dodger shook her head, "I can't stay, Miles. I've already wasted too much time. I need to find someone in Colorado. I need to warn her."

Charlie asked, "Who?"

Dodger admitted, "Your mom."

Charlie asked, "My mom? You know my mom? Warn her? About what?"

Dodger smiled briefly, "She's walking into a trap. We know a common acquaintance…Randall…Real piece of work."

"You know this guy Randall?" asked Miles. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I figured you guys could help me get a message out," she admitted.

Charlie asked suspiciously, "Did you know who we are all along?"

Dodger grinned, "You don't remember me, do you, Charlie?"

She shook her head rather surprised.

"I saw you a few times when you were a small child," she informed. "I went to your parents' house on business before the blackout."

Charlie just stood dumbstruck; she couldn't believe her ears, "You knew my father too?"

Dodger nodded, "Yeah…" she looked at Miles and smirked, "I cannot believe you are his brother. God, what happened? Ben was so nice and you're such a..."

Miles waged his finger, "You knew my brother?"

Dodger recalled, "He was so adorable…And so was his kids. He was a real good with them…"she pondered, "And then there is you…The pain in the ass brother. How did he get you for a brother? Were you adopted?"

"I was not adopted," snorted Miles. "Have you been playing us all along?"

Dodger shook her head, "Nope, coming across you was pure luck."

Nora asked rather confused, "So, you knew who Miles and Charlie were all along?"

Dodger nodded in confession, "Yeah…I did."

"And you just played dumb?" asked Nora.

"Sometimes playing dumb can be an advantage," admitted Dodger.

Miles huffed, "While aren't you something...Towing us along the entire time. What are you? A con-artist?"

"No," she replied, "I'm just one person trying very hard to stop a bunch of psychopaths."

Nora crossed her arms and shifted her weight, "Now we're psychopaths to you?"

She shook her head, "No…You're not the psychopaths…My family…They are the psychopaths."

Miles pondered, "Your family?"

She nodded, "Yup, a bunch of murdering psychopaths…I've been on their shit-list for years now."

Charlie asked confused, "Who is your family?"

Dodger shook her head, "I would rather not admit I'm even related to them. They're a bunch of inbreed, satanic, whack-jobs."

Miles puckered in thought, "Inbred? Is that's why you are so…Screwed up?"

Dodger glanced at the floor for a moment, "No," she informed, "I'm 'screwed up' because I was raised by a bunch of satanic psychopaths who were heavy into the occult…They were also heavy into eugenics. They were trying to expand on the Aryan Race concept. I was conceived in a lab using DNA splicing from four different people, artificially impregnated into my mother…If you want to call her that."

Miles was taken aback by the admission, "You mean…You were the result of a lab experiment and that's why you can do this?"

"When you splice genetics from four different sources and combine it into one being you don't always get a master piece…Instead they got me…A reject."

Charlie and Nora traded glances; neither was sure of what they were hearing, Charlie asked, "You're a reject? You mean you don't have a mother and father like the rest of us?"

Dodger shook her head, "I was raised with a mother and father, spliced with four donors from the same family bloodline in some bullshit effort to create a master race during the infancy of genetics. My family was very wealthy and powerful…They had the resources to carry on the eugenics program that was actually started a very long time ago. I was the first attempt to splice DNA in a lab and make a baby with it. That's why I can do this…Why I was born like this…And why there is a side effect…I'm diabetic as a result. Needless to say I didn't turn into the perfect human they were trying to create and when you screw with nature all kinds of shit can go wrong."

Miles couldn't help but asked, "And are there more genetically engineered babies out there?"

She nodded, "Yeah, there is...As far as I know none that turned out like me though."

Charlie seemed confused, "I don't understand what a master race is? Why do something like that?"

Miles replied, "There isn't a master race…Just some long ago whack-job's idea of blonde-haired and blue-eyed people."

Dodger gave a deep sigh, "Actually, they want two races. A master race of intelligent, good-looking, perfectly healthy, long-living people who live in a life of luxury and power and a secondary race…Drones…People that are slaves basically. Hence the master race would rule the slaves."

Nora wondered suspiciously, "Who are the slaves supposed to be? People like me?"

Dodger gave a sad look, "Yeah, people like you. Ethnic backgrounds, smart enough to do the job…Including fighting wars but not smart enough to understand they are slaves. Drones are pawns on a chessboard. Picture the world as a grand chessboard. The elite are the kings, queens and the pawns are the expendables. To give you an idea; on the grand chessboard…Ninety-five percent of the people are expendable. The rest are drones to work for the benefit of the few elite."

Charlie assumed, "And you are part of these elite."

Dodger rebutted, "No…I refused to be a part of them…Which is why I need to get to Colorado and warn your mother about Randall….And get the power back on."

Charlie smirked, "She already knows about Randall."

"Then she will need my help," insisted Dodger.

"You're on your own," warned Miles unsure if she was telling the truth or even trust worthy. As far as he was concerned it was over now.

But deep in the back of his mind he couldn't help but feel contempt…Not for Dodger's admission of knowing Rachel and Ben Matheson but for the eugenics policy itself. He knew there was plenty of DNA and gene slicing before the blackout as reported in the media. He thought it was a short term experiment to clone a sheep named "Dolly." But now he found it was far deeper than that and it applied to human's in even greater detail. For some reason that could not explain the thought of the woman who irritated him to no end being nothing more than a genetic experiment that was considered a laboratory failure and hence, a reject, was most disturbing. He knew people could be cruel, murderous and greedy. Never did he imagine such a science fiction horror story being true and affecting someone who had touched him on such a personal level.

**Later**

Miles, Charlie and Nora all gathered around to say goodbye to Dodger for what they thought was the last time. Dodger had gotten a motorcycle, filled it with gas and was able to use her own ability like a pendant to keep the electrical system in the bike running. She also found a black helmet with a full face shield and traded the brown leather jacket for a biker jacket.

"Well, this is it," assured Dodger who looked at Mile's face, "I'm actually going this time."

He asked, "For real?"

"Yes…For real," she admitted.

Charlie asked, "When you see my mom can you let her know I'm okay?"

Dodger wasn't sure if she could do that but agreed, "I will, Charlie."

Nora wiped back a tear, "Where will you go after you warn Rachel about Randall and your satanic family?"

She informed, "Oregon…I have a safe house set up there. You're welcome to visit anytime."

Nora laughed, "I'll remember that if I ever make it to Oregon."

Dodger placed the helmet on her head and buckled the strap. It concealed her face entirely behind the shield. Suddenly Miles could see why the media nicked named her the Artful Dodger. She looked slick in the outfit.

He asked, "When you were robbing banks did you wear that?"

She nodded and lifted the visor to speak, "Sometimes a ski-mask," she admitted. "I also had this reversible jacket that was black on the outside and blue on the inside. I would take the jacket off and turn its blue side out. I could just walk right by the cops then."

Charlie couldn't help but ask, "If your family was rich…Then why did you rob banks?"

Dodger grinned, "It was a protest! They were robbing the people."

"Oh," she really didn't understand but did notice that people didn't use banks anymore; payments were in goods, jewels or precious metals.

"Well," stated Miles, "Good luck on your quest there, Terry."

She smiled gently, "You too, Miles." She flipped the visor down and mounted the bike. Turned the ignition and kicked started the motor. It roared to life. She gave final glance at her friends and with a nod she was gone.

Miles watched until the bike went out of sight, he gave a heavy sigh.

Charlie asked, "You really think she was the result of a lab experiment?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do…There was a lot of genetics experimenting going on back then."

Nora wondered, "Who do you think her family is?"

He shrugged, "There was a number of wealthy families."

"But satanic?" asked Charlie.

"I suppose," he shrugged unsure.

Nora wondered, "Which wealthy family would best fit that profile?"

"No idea," he admitted, "I never paid much attention to stories about that kind of stuff." He sighed, "We got a war to prepare for."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As Dodger made her way west she was unaware of how badly things had gone out east. The Georgia Federation had gone to war with the Monroe Republic and it was not going well. Thousands of men and women had been wounded or killed. Nora had been captured by Monroe and subject to torture of unprecedented proportions.

It would have been much easier to get out west prior to the blackout. Food and gas stations dotted the highway like a brilliant glowing oasis along the way. But now, the night time was very dark on an open road and dangerous on a bike even without other cars to cause an accident for the animals were now accustomed to walking the road with no oncoming traffic and after fifteen years of neglect the road surface was in very bad shape.

Weaving to avoid potholes and large creators was a task. Weeds and trees started to sprout through cracks in the payments in in some places an entire tress had grown in the middle of the highway. Bridges were dangerous to cross after years of neglect. The once operational infrastructure was in a sorry state of affairs.

She made her way through abandoned towns, siphoned gas from abandoned vehicles whenever she could find it. Some of the gas was not any good for ethanol laced gas, used as a bio-fuel, decomposed leaving water in the gas rendering it useless. She had to find high octane gas with no water and that was obtainable via ground tanks at gas stations.

Dodger had to use a rope and small pale, lowered through a pipe into the gas station underground tank to get the gas that was still good. The only other fuel that did not have water in it was kerosene and that could be used but was not the best for a small motorcycle engine however, it was good aircraft engine fuel.

Her other obstacle was finding sugar for her diabetes when she would go into hypoglycemia. The less she used her gift the more stable her sugar levels remained but that not an option in her current situation.

The rain was pouring and the weather was cold. An old rusted sign for the state of Colorado lay ahead. She stopped the bike for a moment and spotted two figures just up ahead walking in the despicable weather. She wondered who it could be so she approached them slowly on the bike.

Aaron walked with Rachel in the rain; both were dripping wet, cold, tired and hungry. It seemed like an impossible journey and now they still had to get to the Tower.

Aaron stopped for a moment, "You hear something?" He looked behind them and spotted a rider on a motorcycle, "Um…" he motioned.

Rachel turned around and gasped, "I have no idea who that is but it has to be one of Randall's people. No one else has power," she assumed.

Dodger came up to them and slowly circled. It was Rachel Matheson. She couldn't believe her luck but chose not to reveal herself at that moment in time for she had no idea who the man standing with was.

Dodger stopped the bike before her and spoke through the visor, "You are walking into a trap, Mrs. Matheson."

Rachel was taken for a moment, "How do you know my name?"

Dodger replied, "I'm the Dodger. You are walking into a trap…Again. You have to be careful…Randall is setting a trap."

"I'm very much aware of Randall," she replied. "Now who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Artful Dodger," she stated.

Aaron asked, "The Artful Dodger? What…Are you using some sort of alias? Why?"

Dodger grew tired of the lack of understanding; she huffed, "The media gave me the name. I'm trying to warn you, Mrs. Matheson…Randall is setting a trap."

Rachel bitterly assured, "I will deal with Randall when I come across him."

Dodger shook her head, "No, he's setting a trap for you. Don't you understand…It's a trap. He wants you in the Tower for a reason."

Rachel asked, "What's would that reason be?"

Dodger had to admit, "I haven't figured that part out yet...But it's a trap."

Rachel spouted, "I'm cold, hungry and tried…I don't have time for this crap. I don't know who you are or what you are up to but I'm going to get the power back on. Do you understand?"

Dodger grew frustrated, "I am trying to help you get the power back on. Randall is setting some sort of trap. You must be careful." She then dug into her bag and retrieved a can of food and tossed it to them, "Here! You need to be careful…It's some sort of trap." Dodger then drove off ahead to scout the way.

Rachel looked at the can of food, "Corned beef…Haven't had that in a while." Her mind wandered back in time for a briefly; she recalled a friend who she would meet for lunch that like corned beef sandwiches.

**Flashback - 4 years before the blackout:**

Rachel Matheson sat in her kitchen on the laptop working on the proposal for her and Ben's new company. She desperately needed finical backers and found a supporter from a very affluent family. The doorbell rang. She got up from her work and answered the door.

"Terry," she greeted, "you're here?"

"You invited me for lunch," the Dodger reminded. She held up a paper bag, "I brought food."

Rachel gave a warm hug to her friend and only financial backer, "Oh, come on in…We're not that bad off…" she informed while taking the bag. She peeked inside, "Corned beef?"

Dodger grinned, "Yeah, it's good. The seniors kind of got me into it. That and liverwurst."

"Which is worse?" asked Rachel with a sour look.

"I like them both," Dodger informed. "So, how's Ben and your baby girl?"

"They are doing great," replied Rachel, "how's your practice?"

"I got clients, just none of them have any money," she complained.

"Well, what do you expect when you work for the poor," teased Rachel.

Dodger corrected, "They had money, saved all their lives but there is something screwy going on with Wall Street. These mortgages are funny. They are being sold time and time again and interest rates are skyrocketing on the mortgages. They are losing their homes left and right."

"Really?" asked Rachel.

"Really!" replied Dodger. "And it pisses me off too. It's like the banks are robbing the people blind."

"Well, Ben and I got credit for the business but if we don't start seeing some results were not gonna make the payments. I can't tell you how much your investment means to us."

Dodger explained, "I think you and Ben are on the verge of a major breakthrough in technology. I'm rather excited…This could be applied to medicine eventually."

"Well, first let's keep the business afloat," cautioned Rachel.

**Today**

Aaron asked, "Something wrong?"

Rachel shook her head, "No, just was recalling an old friend of mine who loved the weirdest foods. You remember back before the blackout how no one really ate corned beef from a can or liverwurst? Now, hell that's a luxury."

"I liked liverwurst," commented Aaron, "used to have all sorts of fine dining experiences. I once even had headcheese."

"Well," Rachel began to walk on, "you and Terry would have gotten along great."

"Terry?" asked Aaron.

"Terry Rothschild," she recalled.

"Rothschild?" asked Aaron, "Like the family?"

"Yup,' laughed Rachel, "the banking cartel…And Terry hated them…She called them the 'whack-jobs' all the time."

"I bet," added Aaron. "What ever happened to them?"

She shrugged, "I suppose they are all dead now. Too bad, Terry was a trip! She was very entertaining and did karaoke. I think Ben had a little crush on her though." She started to laugh to herself.

"What's so funny?" asked Aaron.

"I'm just picturing wild Terry with Miles," she giggled. "She would have driven him nuts."

"Your friend sounded like a lot of fun," he tried to keep a positive conversation going. Seeing Rachel's eyes lit up at the thought of her old friend was a relief in such a dire situation. She hadn't seen her laugh the entire time.

"She was," she chuckled.

Aaron wanted to keep her thinking positive; he suggested, "Tell me about her. Would I have liked her?"

She grinned at him, "You would have liked her. You and she would have a lot in common. Both very wealthy and both have a huge heart. She would drag me down to help feed to homeless once a month. She was really anti-war and hated what the government was doing. She loved _Ben and Jerry's_ chocolate chip mint ice cream and actually bought a year's supply for herself and Ben. I had a freezer full of _Ben and Jerry's _chocolate chip mint ice cream for nearly a year," she laughed. "Miles would come over and bitch about it…He wanted the cherry ice cream. Terry was the sort of person who would stock your cupboards when they were bare."

"Sounds like she was one of those liberal tree huggers," suggested Aaron.

"Oh no, she was anything but…She was a crusader…Always had a cause…Helping the elderly, the homeless…Us…She tried to keep our business alive so we wouldn't have to go to the DOD. Her family cut her off and she had a rough time coming up with money after that. We were forced to go to the DOD and Terry so pissed off that we did. She kept warning us that they would make it into a weapon and she was right…They did. If she had the money to continue backing us we might have avoided this whole thing. Too bad her family cut her off."

Aaron suggested, "Had I known about your business and about what the DOD would do…I would have given you whatever you needed to keep it out of the hands of the government."

"Little late now, Aaron," she cried. "But thanks."

"Welcome," he replied solemnly.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After getting Nora back from Monroe and being stuck with Tom Neville, Miles discovered that he needed to get out to the Tower and that Rachel was indeed walking into a trap. They fitted a military helicopter with an amplifier and pendant and had started their way west with a Georgia Federation pilot. Along the way a traitor was discovered and the pilot was killed along with many of the men on the journey as they stopped for fuel. Miles found himself piloting the helicopter as they flew out to Colorado on the last leg of the journey.

He couldn't help but feel like the last few weeks were a living hell…After Dodger left everything started back downhill once again. Not only did he lose a tactical advantage when she left but also a spirit that he had not seen in some time. The only other person who seemed to share that spirit was Charlie but there was something about Dodger that set her apart. He couldn't put his finger on it but some reason she seemed to bring them good luck and Miles was not a man who believed in luck.

If anything life seemed to be just the opposite for Miles. If it weren't for bad luck he would no luck at all. Bad things seemed to happen to him and those who were close to him. After Dodger left, he and Nora drew closer once more and then Nora was captured, tortured until she broke and nearly killed. The woman nearly died a number of times when she was around him. He began to wonder if it would be better if he had died…Maybe the others would live. It was a fruitless thought in reality but he couldn't help but wonder if he was jinxed.

Miles had no idea but he was in fact jinxed, the whole Matheson family had been jinxed by the Satanist who worked behind the scenes. In a bloodletting ceremony prior to the blackout Ben and Rachel Matheson and all their family and future heirs were in fact jinxed. If there was a power to black magic it certainly found an easy target with Miles Matheson.

Rachel and Aaron had reached the Tower only to discover Monroe with Randall were already there. Rachel saw red, her quest quickly shifted from wanting to restore power to getting revenge for her dead son.

Dodger spotted the pair hiding in the brush watching the doorway to the underground Tower. She crawled up behind them with the visor down her helmet.

"Randall is already here," she told them.

Rachel looked back in surprise, "Well…If it isn't the Artful Dodger. What do you want?"

"To help you fix this, Rachel." She replied.

Rachel shook her head, "I don't need your help." She looked at Aaron, "I'm going down there and I'm gonna kill Monroe. You can get the power on, Aaron."

Aaron spouted, "Rachel…I don't know how to do that."

"You can do it," she assured him. "Dodger can even help you get inside." She looked over at the mysterious figure, "Can't you?"

Dodger didn't answer, "Oh, so you are Aaron. Charlie, Miles and Nora all say 'hi.'"

Aaron asked, "You know Charlie, Miles and Nora?"

She nodded, "A funny thing happened on the way to Georgia. I ran across General Matheson and his niece, and their friend." She looked at Rachel, "Charlie asked me to tell you that she was okay. She also misses you and loves you very much," Dodger added the later trying to talk some sense into Rachel who was about to make another huge mistake to her estimation.

"You know my daughter?" gulped Rachel.

"Yeah, nice kid too…Tall, blonde, blue eyes," she paused, "Looks a lot like her mom and but really reminds me of her father. Sweet kid…Deserves to have her mom back in her life."

"You knew Ben?" she asked suspiciously.

Dodger decided there was no change in hiding from her; she took the helmet off, "Rachel…It's me."

Rachel gasped, "Terry? My god…I thought you were dead."

She shook her head, "No, I'm not dead and I'm trying to help you fix this mess. But marching in there to kill Monroe is not gonna fix anything."

"Terry?" asked Aaron.

Rachel chocked, "Aaron, meet Terry Rothschild…The first investor in the company." She turned to Terry, "I guess you were right about the DOD. We didn't want this to happen."

"I know you didn't," nodded Dodger. "The family cut me off on purpose. Once they read the reports on the potential of the technology you and Ben was developing they wanted it be made into a weapon, so they cut me off and pressured your accounts with outstanding debt."

Rachel wondered, "Why would want a weapon like that? Your family spoke of world piece and all these wonderful things. I met them…They were nice people. It's not like the conspiracy theories where they were satanic worshippers."

"Yes they are," she disagreed, "and psychotic."

"Your family was sweet to me," reminded Rachel.

"You have fallen into every trap they have laid for you, Rachel." She complained, "It's an act…They are evil and sadistic bastards."

Rachel asked, "What do you mean I have fallen every trap they laid for me?"

"You have," insisted Dodger. "Randall, he's just a moronic pawn…He thinks he's a patriot. He will do their bidding in return to set back up the old ways. It's called the Phoenix Project. Out of the ashes of the old will arise a new world order...You just laid a golden road to it."

"What?" she gasped. "I just laid a golden road to what?"

"You and Ben had an invention that had so much potential to do wonders for the healthcare industry. And they saw a way to kill 90 percent of the population and carry out their plans for the return to feudalism."

"Return to feudalism?" asked Rachel.

She nodded, "Yes, living like the 18oo's is exactly what they wanted for the sheep. They only want electricity for themselves and only keep around enough people for themselves to live comfortably. Look around, I would say that plan has panned out pretty well so far. What stands in their way is the east coast. The Monroe Republic and the Georgia Federation are both too powerful. So, pit them against each other and destroy them. Then row into shore like a fucking white knight on a fucking white horse."

Aaron asked in disbelief, "Are you sure? Why purposely take down the banking system, Wall Street and the government? That's how your family got rich…Isn't it?"

"It was a Ponzi scheme," she rebutted. "It was coming undone anyways and the blackout was a godsend for now they could walk away with all the real wealth and not be held responsible for the theft."

"You're kidding me," he couldn't believe his ears. "The rich wanted the system to fall apart."

"Well of course they did," she replied. "To cover up the crimes they committed and usher in the new age of feudalism. What do you think the hippy movement was all about? Peace? Total bullshit."

Rachel couldn't help but asked, "What was the hippy movement about, Terry?"

She informed, "It was an experiment in mind control to get people to pillow sit, return to feudalism and not do a damn thing to effectively stop them by using soma-drugs."

"Oh," Rachel pondered the information, "makes perfect sense now."

Aaron shook his head in surprise, "The whole hippy movement was one big experiment in mind control?"

"Well yeah," she replied. "They started in 1955 to see how to control a vast majority of the population. Needless to say it worked really well; very successful from our standards. You remember the book _1984_?"

Aaron nodded still digesting the information.

"That wasn't a warning…It was a blue print," she told him.

"Makes perfect sense now," added Rachel nodding in disbelief. She still wanted revenge for her son but now the picture just got bigger. The whole world was at stake. "You got any idea on how to get in there, Terry?"

"No," she admitted. "Do you?"

"I was gonna go a suicide mission to take out Monroe," she admitted. "Aaron is the key to turning back on the power."

"Why am I the key?" he asked.

"You just are," stated Rachel not wanting to explain.

"Okay," Dodger started to conjure up a plan. "Randall can't get inside for some reason. They would be in there if he could."

Rachel blinked in surprise, "You're right. Why haven't they already entered?"

"He's been blocked out," assumed Dodger. "Who else is inside there?"

Rachel shrugged, "No one as far as I know."

"Someone has to be," she told her. "The nanites are not self-aware, they only have two commands…There has to be people inside…Logic dictates so."

Rachel nodded, "Yeah, you were always good at being logical there, Spock."

Aaron agreed, "She's right…If Randall cannot get inside there has to be a reason. Someone else has to be inside."

"Who though?" asked Rachel.

"Who was in the Tower when it activated?" asked Dodger.

"As far as I know the government's scientist and agents," replied Rachel.

Dodger continued, "They turned the nanites on. What would happen when the nanties turn off on a grand scale…All at once?"

Rachel replied, "All the energy discharges…In a huge surge…"she placed her head in her hands, "They are afraid if turn off the nanites we could set the world on fire."

"Could we?" asked Aaron.

"There is a small chance of it happening," she agreed.

"Which is why I went to Georgia when I came across your brother-in-law. I knew he could help me send a message out to the world to prepare for a massive power surge. The people need to ground themselves and man the power stations or you will be looking at a nuclear meltdown."

Rachel exhaled, "That could happen….I forgot about the power plants." She looked at her friend, "So, you met Miles?"

She nodded, "You're right…He's cute."

Rachel started to laugh, "Did you drive him nuts?"

She chuckled, "I think so."

"Good," she smirked.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After nightfall Dodger still had no real plan on how to get inside the complex. She decided to sleep on the issue that perhaps the situation would change by morning. The three slept in the tall grass hidden under a tree.

Rachel couldn't sleep, she found herself thinking about her son and how Monroe had tortured her and her family for so long. She looked over at Dodger sleeping peacefully next to Aaron. She couldn't help but smile slightly for she had the man who invented to nanite code and the first investor by her side. Dodger was a Rothschild, a member of the elite. She was a Baroness by title and would have access to far more privy information than most. Dodger could surely get Aaron inside, all she had to do was distract the men and kill Monroe.

She looked down at the camp and spotted the weapons depot. All she needed to do was walk there, get a hand grenade and walk into Monroe's tent and set the thing off. She would die herself but she really didn't see why she even really needed with her friend Terry and Aaron both at her side and both influential people. Rachel eased herself up and proceeded to the depot.

Being a light sleeper Aaron woke to find Rachel was gone; he scrambled about and spotted her walking towards the weapons dump. He shook Dodger.

"Terry, wake up."

She sucked in a breath startled, "What is it?"

"It's Rachel," he pointed towards the encampment.

Dodger looked down at her friend, "Oh no…Rachel…What are you doing?"

"She's gonna try to kill Monroe," stated Aaron.

"I told her it was fruitless to kill him," she rebutted.

Aaron agreed, "I know…But she wants revenge."

"Damn," Dodger lay on her belly next to Aaron and could only watch. Her sugar was too low to even attempt to intervene and Rachel's mind was not set in proper thought. "My sugar is too low to do anything, Aaron. I'm almost out of corn syrup."

"You're diabetic?" he asked.

She nodded.

He never did ask how she powered the motorcycle and assumed she had a pendant on her person. He and Dodger watched helplessly as Rachel set herself up for another trap.

She got the weapon and held in her grasp as she walked past the guards and into Monroe's tent. She pulled the pin only to be taken down by a guard and the grenade disposed of. She failed in her plan as a suicide bomber.

Dodger and Aaron were relived she failed but the actions sent a warning sigh to Dodger that her friend was unstable and heading towards a major mental breakdown.

"Aaron, Rachel is thinking emotionally and not logically. She's gonna get herself killed and maybe us along with her. I need you to understand that Rachel is not mentally fit. Okay?"

Aaron asked, "Are any of us? Maybe you have all this inside information if what you say is true…But no electricity for fifteen years can make you go insane," he chocked.

"It's nanites making people go insane," countered Dodger. "I'm sure of it. That's one of the reasons we need to shut them off."

Aaron nearly cried as he laughed, "You mean if we get these things turned off everyone goes normal again?"

She shook her head, "I don't know for sure, it's a theory I am working on. Tomorrow morning we will try to rescue her, after I get my sugar level up. Try to rest Aaron, we're gonna have a fight on our hands tomorrow."

"I'll try," he didn't believe he really would under the dire straits.

**Morning**

Dodger ate a small breakfast with Aaron and held onto the last of her corn syrup. She would need most if not all of it to get Rachel back. She had a third a bottle and that was it. No more after that.

Aaron asked, "Corn syrup? That's really not a good sugar for a diabetic."

"I'm not your normal diabetic," she informed. "The corn syrup metabolizes so quickly I can use it as fuel, but my level will drop considerably afterwards."

"After what?" asked Aaron.

She smiled, "You are the first person who ever asked me that? I have a gift that I was born with. I can suck the energy out of the air and direct it into anything I choose."

He blinked, "Are you serious?"

She nodded, "How else would I have powered the motorcycle?"

"I assumed you had a pendant," he admitted.

"No," she replied, "I don't. I have this…" she held up the bottle and took a large gulp saving a small amount. She handed to bottle to him. "I will need that later."

He took the syrup and looked at her and then the bottle; he then placed it in his bag. He let out a deep sigh.

"What's your plan?" he asked.

"I'm gonna put on my helmet and scare the shit out of them. You get Rachel and run."

"Get Rachel and run? That's your plan?" he asked.

"Only get into a fight if you can win it; if not then run," she informed.

"Run?" he asked again.

"Run…Nothing wrong with running," she assured. "We will get away, take Rachel and get to a safe-house in Oregon…Okay?"

He paused in thought; so far Dodger's plan made far more sense than Rachel's…Though a bit cowardly.

"Okay," he nodded. "Running is good."

She added, "What do you expect us to do? Get all Rambo-like and go down there machine guns blasting?"

Aaron countered, "We don't have machine guns."

"Don't need them," she assured. "These men were drafted into the militia. They are there out of fear alone. We are at war but we can be…Sportsman about it…As Manfred von Richthofen would have said."

"Manfred von…?" asked Aaron.

"The Red Baron," she recited. "If you can win then fight; if not then simply fly away. Good advice…I've used it my whole life…Kept me alive."

Aaron had to admit, "Remarkably that sounds rather sane. Okay, you get the distraction and I'll free Rachel."

"Deal," she flipped the visor down and zipped up her leather jacket. She needed to save as much energy as possible so she opted to just walk into camp.

Unbeknownst to Rachel, Aaron and Dodger, Miles had landed the helicopter four miles out and they were nearly there. As they approached the hill top they spotted Aaron hiding under a tree and Dodger walking right towards the encampment with no signs of Rachel. They crouched down to avoid being seen.

Charlie asked, "What is Terry doing?"

Miles smirked, "Hopefully she will give Bass the shock of a life-time."

Dodger walked into the center of town. Monroe and Randall were called out to greet the stranger. She stood, appearing to be unarmed in the center of the encampment.

Tom Neville crawled up next to get a better view, "Who is that?"

Miles smirked, "That's the Artful Dodger…Ever hear of her?"

"Matter of fact I have," admitted Miles.

His son Jason asked, "Who is the Artful Dodger?"

"A bank robber," informed Miles.

Tom Neville's mind went back in time to his day before the blackout.

**Flashback - one week before the blackout**

Tom Neville stood in the elevator of his insurance firm in NYC and glanced at the newspaper once more. The headline was about the latest robbery from one of the mega banks that had taken over the insurance industry. Tom felt it was an abomination. The insurance industry had merged with the banks after the gutting the Glass-Stiegel Act that protected his clients for decades.

He personally had touched by the mortgage backed securities scam that ripped the black and low income neighborhoods; robbing elderly and poor of their homes and life savings. The Artful Dodger was their only crusader in the scam and he was helpless to right any of the wrongs.

The door slid open and he walked into the lobby after a long day at the office only to come across the Artful Dodger who accidentally ran into him as he exited the building.

She scrambled to her feet as they helped each out up, "I'm very sorry. I hope you are okay but I have to go." She quickly grabbed the sack of cash and ran around the corner.

Tom wiped the dirt from his trousers as the cops approached on foot with weapons drawn.

"Which way did the Dodger go?" one asked.

He pointed in the opposite direction, "I think that way."

The cops followed his directions allowing time for the Artful Dodger to escape once more.

He laughed to himself, "Damn pigs…They deserve it."

**Present Day**

Tom added, "It was more than just bank robbing going on. How did the Dodger knock the cops down?"

Miles stated, "Just watch and learn." He secretly hopped Tom Neville would get a good shocking as well. "Slowly circle the encampment people."

Dodger stood in the middle of camp and waited for Monroe and Randall to emerge before her.

Monroe had no idea the stranger was or how she even got there and was rather curious about the outfit.

Randall on the other hand had a good suspicion for he received reports of the Dodger's return after so many years.

Monroe asked, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm the Artful Dodger and I want Rachel's release," she stated.

Monroe shrugged, "Never heard of ya. Why should I give you Rachel?"

"Because if you don't I will shock the hell out of you," she stated. She then looked at Randall, "And you know I can do it, Randall Flynn."

Randall didn't know the Artful Dodger's real identity but became rather aware when said his name, "How do you know my name?" he asked.

"Everyone does," she miffed. "You're the current point-man for the elite."

Monroe asked Randall, "I thought you worked for me."

"I do," he lied, "so, Dodger…What's your secret weapon? I'm sure everyone would like to know."

"You need to understand something, Randall...I am the secret weapon. The elite…They wanted a monster so they created me. Now, I'm gonna be that monster they so desperately wanted."

Randall had no idea what she was talking about, "Monsters?" he asked and looked about, "No monsters here….Just…Monroe and his militia."

"Monroe is not the monster," she informed. "He's just a dupe and you are a worthless pawn."

Randall was not amused and pulled his gun on her, "Worthless pawn? I'll show you who is a worthless pawn."

The temperature dropped suddenly right before Randall opened fire. Dodger knelt down with her hands above her head to shield herself from the bullets which ricochet off the energy shield and hit one of Monroe's men in the shoulder.

Dodger stood back up and looked at the injured boy; she scolded him, "Look what you did you moron. You just shot that boy."

Monroe asked, "How are you doing that?"

She replied, "As I said…I'm a monster…A real Monster…I was created to be a monster…A perfect monster…" she then paused in thought, "A monster that would only exist in nightmares. I'm your nightmare Randall. Whatever the fuck you are up to, I am going to stop you."

Randall whispered to Monroe, "Whoever she is…She's nuts…I suggest you have your men take her down. Whatever device is powering that shield has to wear off."

Monroe nodded in agreement, "Kill her," he ordered his men.

With that order the temperature dropped even more as the men all took aim with weapons rather fearful they would end up getting accidentally shot by stray bullets. Before they could open fire Dodger let lose a large shockwave of energy that felt like a bomb blast to the former marine. It knocked all the men off their feet.

"Aaron, now," she yelled out.

Aaron had snuck into the tent where Rachel was held and cut her lose. He ran out the tent door with Rachel in tow figuring now was the time to run.

Dodger's energy level was too far drained to do another shockwave or shield. Before she knew it she came face to face with Monroe himself. He placed his hands on her, trying to grab her and hold her down.

She quickly and swiftly kinked him in the tender spot and tried to run.

Though in pain, Monroe grabbed her ankle and hauled her down. He then placed retrieved his side arm and leveled it at her head.

She knocked the side arm away and then head-butted him with helmet. She scrambled to her feet and found the nearest weapon, a large machete.

Monroe drew his blade and two circled in battle.

Miles paused and his jaw dropped, "She knows how to fight?" He couldn't believe it! She had been holding back on him.

Monroe swung at her and she blocked it; he swung again and she blocked him and kept perfect stance.

Miles shoulders slunk, "She can do that?" he asked himself. "Where did she learn to do that?"

Monroe came at her once more and she turned sideways, Place her foot in his stomach and then hauled him right over her shoulders where he landed flat on the ground.

Miles stood on the sideline watched and commenting, "She knows that too? What the fuck? Why did she keep shocking me if she can fight?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The fight was soon over and Monroe's men had gained the upper hand. Not even Dodger's ability was enough for them to win much less run away as she had planned.

The guns were leveled on Miles and his crew as they became surrounded by the bunker door to the Tower. Dodger's sugar level dropped to dangerously low levels and she started to fade, wobbling and losing her footings.

Two militia men held her up with her arms wrenched around her back.

Randall decided he was gonna unmask the Dodger and find out who she was once and for all.

He ordered the men, "Hold her," he walked up to her. He was a bit beat up himself but maintained his pose. "After all these years I will finally be the man to unmask the Artful Dodger." He undid the chin-strap of the helmet and pulled it from her head.

Rachel closed her eyes and hoped Randall would not recognize her. He did indeed recognize her.

"Baroness Teresa Rothschild," he smirked, "this is a surprise."

Monroe had no idea who she was; he asked, "What? You know her? Who is she?"

Randall grinned, "She's nobility….From and very wealthy and powerful family. I'm sure she's worth a bit of money to them."

"You have no idea," she nodded grudgingly.

"Baroness?" asked Miles. "You're royalty?"

She nodded.

"Now you tell me that?" he asked.

"You never asked," she smirked. She then looked at Randall, "I suppose they have you doing something stupid?"

Randall laughed, "I'm not working for your…Family."

She disagreed, "Actually, you are."

Tom Neville stood in astonishment, "A Rothschild! They were one of the richest families in the world."

"Still are," she informed. "Oh, I remember you. You're than nice man who sent the cop in the wrong direction. I never got to thank you for that…Saved my butt that day."

Miles looked at Neville and then back at Dodger; he asked, "Nice man? Kidding me?"

"It was a different time," he explained. "I was an insurance salesman and watched a number of my clients get sucked into the Wall Street securities fraud. I was pulling for you along with many of my clients." He told his son, "Back before the blackout the insurance industry was taken over by the banks and all kinds or financial crimes ran rampant. I was low on totem pole and could do nothing." He spoke to Dodger, "You're welcome, I was glad to help back then."

Neville was not as naive as he once was but well aware of the power of her family. He started conjuring a plan for no doubt a Rothschild would have access to far more information than any president. He had left the Monroe Militia to save his wife whom he adored. The Georgia Federation was good to him but suddenly he started seeing dollar signs once more and the fact he helped her escape the police long ago would certainly play to his favor with her. Neville was not a man of loyalty but rather a man of survival of his family. His loyalty lay to his wife and his son's future. Neville could switch sides like flipping a switch if it played to his advantage.

Randall stated, "Enough of this. Get us in the Tower," he demanded.

Dodger replied, "What makes you think I have access to that?"

"You're a Rothschild," he informed.

"Blacklisted," she replied.

He grabbed her by the collar and dragged her over to the panel, "Open it!" he demanded.

"I can't," she informed.

He then placed the gun to Rachel's temple, "Open it."

Dodger placed her hand on the scanner and the term access denied flashed across the screen; she rebutted, "I don't have authorization. I never did. Just because I'm a Rothschild doesn't mean I have total access to everything."

Randal dragged Rachel over to the pad, "Open it," he demanded.

"I can't," stated Rachel. "I don't have that kind of clearance."

He then placed the gun to Dodger's head, "Open it."

Dodger rolled her eyes, "You really don't want to shoot me."

"Open it," he repeated.

Dodger informed, "If die at your hand, the family will put a hit on you and every living relative you have," she warned. "You have no idea how much they invested in me and I'm worth far more alive than dead."

Randall grew angry, "I said open it." He grabbed Rachel's hand and placed it on the scanner. Much to Rachel's surprise the access was granted and large bunker door opened.

Randall stood back and nodded in triumph, "Good, now all of you…Inside."

Rachel started to shake and Dodger grabbed her hand, "I'm right with you. She then looked at Aaron, "I need that syrup."

Randall asked, "What syrup?"

"I'm diabetic and he has my glucose," she informed and held out her hand to Aaron. "My sugar is low."

Aaron and Rachel both figured out the diabetes were somehow connected to her ability. He nodded and handed her the bottle.

"She's diabetic and needs sugar," he agreed.

Randal snatched the bottle, "Corn syrup?" he asked.

Rachel got in his face, "It's not like glucose tubs are easy come by nowadays. It will do for a diabetic in an emergency. I've seen her sugar get low; she needs to eat. So, unless you plan on getting her a sandwich, I suggest you let her take the sugar…Or she will die and I believe her when she says her family would have you and every relative you have killed in retribution. I suggest you don't let anything happen to her. She worth more than you and me combined, Randall."

"Fine," he handed her the bottle figuring she just had a disease.

Dodger quickly gulped it down; she whispered, to Rachel, "Thank you for that."

"Welcome," she whispered back.

Charlie stood and wondered just how close Dodger was to her mother and her mother's sudden willingness to protect the woman. She glanced at Neville who was obviously scheming; she could see the wheels turning in his head.

She whispered to Nora, "Terry is royalty…Check out Neville."

Nora nodded in thought, "Looks like Terry is more powerful than we thought. The 'shocking-thing' she does is nothing compared to this."

Miles stood behind the two girls and muttered as they walked inside, "I think we are in for some serious ass-kissing."

The interior of the complex was huge. The government has spent much time and effort and long with millions of tax payer money to establish the facility. Randall led Monroe and his men to the edge of the platform to get a bird's eye view of the inside.

Monroe asked, "What is that?"

"A super collider," informed Randall.

Dodger sighed, "Stupidest project they came up with."

Monroe seeing the advantage in Dodger's intimate knowledge asked, "What do you mean?"

"They were looking for the god-partial," she informed, "the higgs-bosen particle…Which was total bunk."

Randall disagreed, "They found it."

"No they didn't," she retorted, "you starts smashing particles together your just gonna have smaller pieces of particles. It was a boondoggle from the get go."

Randall huffed, "Your family was rather interesting in it."

"No, they were interested in trying to make magic into a science," she informed, "they were looking for something that was not there."

Monroe asked, "What do you mean? Magic a science?"

"Black magic…They wanted it to be a science so they could control it," she informed. "And the idea of a god particle ran well with the Vatican…They thought it would be a good cover and revive interest in the church after the molestation scandals came to light."

"The Vatican?" asked Monroe. He seemed confused, "What would the Vatican have to do with black magic?"

Dodger took a deep breath, "Are you a religious man, Mr. Monroe?"

"I was raised catholic," he admitted.

She asked the others, "You all attended Sunday church and did all that stuff?"

Rachel replied for him, "Of course we did. Until the blackout hit…Then, well church wasn't the primary concern at that moment."

She hesitated in her words, "You have to understand what an occult is to begin with. To occult something is to hide it. Most religions hide things…That is why the holy books require years of study."

Miles shrugged, "We get it…All religion is an occult. So, why did mom and dad have such interest in the super collider?"

She miffed, "Same way they had such interest in me, in the nanites, to occult it and make it hidden…"

Aaron closed his eyes in sudden realization, "To return to feudalism."

She nodded.

Monroe asked, "What do you mean 'return to feudalism?'"

She informed, "The power outage was a godsend for the elite; it allowed them to cover up major crimes and accomplish the culling."

"Culling?" he asked.

"They have been wanting to kill of ninety percent of the population for decades," she admitted. "It was like a gift for the elite."

Monroe asked Randall, "Did you know about this?"

Randall refuted, "No, and as far as I know there was no such plan. She's lying."

Dodger looked into Monroe's eyes, "Listen to me…For just one moment…Look back at what has happened in the last fifteen years. The world's population has dropped by ninety percent, the people are living like serfs; they have no internet, no television, no radio and no access to satellites, no electricity. They have been living like slaves under warlords and dictatorships. That was all fine and dandy with my family but what they do not like was the power you and Matheson gained and they did not like the Georgia Republic's power…The East Coast is powerful. So, pit the pair against one another to divide and concur. Divide and concur is how we maintain power. Like democrat and republican…Two heads of the same political system. We give them slight differences that really have no impact on society as a whole and then we used the media to drive the agendas. Keep the sheep arguing amongst themselves. You must understand Mr. Monroe; you are considered livestock by the elite who have ridden out this blackout with the greatest of ease. When your republic started to get too powerful that got their attention. They really do not care if you live or die as long as the agenda moves forward."

Monroe asked, "And you're one these elite?"

"I was born into it…Not my choice," she assured.

"And your agenda is what, Baroness Rothschild?" asked Monroe.

She carefully spoke, "My agenda is to stop them from completing their agenda...That's all."

Monroe thought for a moment, "How do I know I can trust you? Trust is so rare these days." He glanced towards Miles.

Dodger replied honestly, "You don't...There is no way of telling who to trust."

Randall had enough, "She playing with you mind, sir. That's what they do."

She shot him a look, "You should know…Huh, Randall?"

Monroe was now torn between Randall and Dodger. Who should he trust? So far he luck had been just as bad as Miles's luck. Perhaps, he couldn't trust either one.

"Alright," he looked at Randall and then Dodger, "the first one of you two to lie to me gets a bullet in the head." He then spoke into Dodger's ear, "I can kill you…I have no living relatives and everyone wants me dead. So, I have nothing to lose." He chose not to reveal he had an unknown son.

She whispered back, "But you have everything to gain."

"I have nothing to gain," he assured her.

She countered, "Which is why you have everything."

He warned, "Stop playing mind games with me." He then pointed the gun at both Randall and Dodger, "You two…Lead."

Dodger looked to Randall and motioned, "After you."

He shot her a look, "This way, sir."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Randall Flynn was already very concerned for Grace Beaumont and the man who was guarding her both seemed to have disappeared. He knew the elevator would not go past the seventh floor and he was concerned for what unknown awaited. The group got onto the elevator and started to descend.

When the doors opened they found themselves under attack. As men stepped out of the elevator they were blow apart by some sort of weapon. Everyone scattered for safety. Miles got separated from the rest as he went in pursuit of Monroe.

Nora, Charlie, Rachel, Aaron and Dodger all ended up trying to find cover.

Randall had ducked into Dick Cheney's old office and tried to retrieve the weapons locked in a special safe. Everything unraveled as militia men went scurrying to escape.

As Rachel led the small group around the corner they came face to face with another group of people all holding very advanced looking weapons. A familiar face was in the crowd; Grace Beaumont came out from behind the group and spoke to Rachel.

"It's okay, Rachel…You're with friends here," she assured.

"Grace?" asked Rachel. "What's going on?"

"Come with us," she instructed. Her eyes then settled on Dodger, "Haven't I seen you before?"

Rachel nodded, "She's Terry Rothschild…Our initial investor."

"Rothschild?" a large bald man asked. He gave a funny look, "They are still around?"

Terry nodded, "Regrettably."

He gave a sour look.

Rachel replied, "No, she's not like the others. She's Baroness Rothschild…She's of German decent."

Dodger added, "All Rothschild are of German decent…The original name was Baur…Rothschild was adopted." She then added, "I'm the reject that went on the bank robbing spree before the blackout…The Artful Dodger."

The guy asked, "That was you?"

She nodded shamefully.

Grace was curious but tried not to let Dodger's heritage get to be a distraction; she instructed, "Come with us."

They followed the group into a self-sustaining room with nice décor and plants growing about. The bald man spoke.

"We were down here when we turned the Tower on. We have dedicated our lives to protecting it…We cannot let it be turned off."

"Why not?" asked Charlie.

Grace instructed, "Tell her what will happen of the nanites are turned off, Rachel."

"It's a very slim chance," she rebutted.

Grace replied, "If we turn off the nanites it will set the world on fire. We have to protect it at all cost."

Dodger raised her hand, "Yeah, one step ahead of ya there. I sent out an SOS from Atlanta telling people to ground themselves and man the power stations to prevent the surge."

The man smirked, "That was you…That dinky SOS that no one got."

"Someone had to have gotten it," stated Dodger.

He stated, "It was too weak."

"Oh," she puckered in thought.

"How did you send that out?" asked Grace. She had no idea how the small surge from Atlanta originated and could not figure out how it was done.

"Lots of juice," nodded Dodger avoiding the question.

The man replied, "We cannot turn it off."

Rachel rebutted, "We need to return power. The chance of that happening is very small."

"We can't take that chance," replied Grace. "You can stay with us here, Rachel. You will be safe."

"I can't do that," she refused.

Dodger suggested, "How about we get to the control room and give the nanites new commands. Tell them to stop doing what they are doing now but not to discharge the energy. Then we slowly turn them off a little at a time?"

Grace disagreed, "That won't work. The programming will not allow for it."

She pointed to Aaron, "Well, isn't that why we have Mr. Google here? It was his code I stole from the university."

Aaron asked, "You stole my code? The university sold it without my permission."

Dodger shrugged, "They had no idea what they were doing."

He rolled his eyes.

Grace disagreed, "It's too late. We can't change the code now."

Rachel became livid, "So you are just gonna let people suffer and die out there?"

"We can't risk turning it off," the man replied.

Rachel shook her head, "I'm sorry but we need to turn the power back on." She turned sharply and went for the door.

Grace warned, "We will stop you."

"You can try," stated Rachel.

Dodger let out a heavy sigh and slunk her shoulders and grudgingly followed Rachel and the others. If she had taken the lead in negotiations she was sure she could have gotten the group to go along eventually but tempers had flared and with the militia running about, Monroe and Miles all trying to kill one another the whole situation seemed fruitless at that point in time.

Rachel led them onto the elevator for they had to go down one more floor. Dodger fell back to the corner of the elevator; she had every intention of retreating for she knew this was a fight she could not win.

The door slid open and once again they were under fire. Nora reacted and went for an offensive position to neutralize the threat and in the process she was hit in the side.

Bleeding badly Nora was dragged into a nearby room for safety. Charlie looked at the wound.

"Mom, it's bad," she informed.

Rachel wasn't thinking straight, "I have to get to the control room. Aaron you have to come with me."

Charlie huffed, "Mom, there is a medical facility here. We have to get her there."

Rachel disagreed, "We don't have time."

Nora stated in self-sacrifice, "She's right, Charlie. Go…Get to the Tower…Aaron, go with her."

"I'm not," he argued.

Nora pleaded, "Please go."

Dodger instructed reluctantly, "Me and Charlie will stay with Nora. Aaron, you go get the power on."

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed. He feared for Nora's life as well as his own.

Rachel led Aaron out of the room and closed the door behind.

Charlie looked at her blood covered hands and then at Dodger who sat behind Nora propping her up.

"Terry, can you help her?" she asked. "Do that shocking thing."

Terry shook her head, "I would stop her heart if I did that. Can we move her with the two of us?" She stood up behind Nora and placed her hands under her armpits. "Grab her legs, Charlie."

The pair lifted Nora who let out a horrible scream of agony. The two women did not have the ability to lift and carry Nora to the infirmary.

Dodger went for the door, "I'm gonna go get a gurney from the infirmary and come right back…You stay with Nora."

Charlie nodded, "Hurry."

"I will," she promised and slipped out the door.

As Miles and Monroe had it out in an epic battle of which neither could win; Tom Neville on the outside had sweet talked the Militia into releasing him and letting his serve as their leader. His son had never seen anyone switch sides so fast. Neville took control of the Militia and ordered them to blast the door to the Tower open once more.

Rachel and Aaron became bogged down on the way to the control room by those protecting the Tower.

As Dodger made her way to the infirmary, she spotted someone who was about to escape, Grace Beaumont. She grabbed Grace by the arm in the hallway and hauled her up against the wall.

"Where do you think you are going, Grace?" asked Dodger.

"Get out while you can," advised Grace.

Dodger tugged her arm, "No, you are coming with me. You are a medical doctor, right?"

"I am not a doctor," informed Grace.

"Close enough," Dodger informed. "You are coming with me to get supplies and help Nora."

"If I refuse?" asked Grace.

Dodger let her have a slight zap.

Grace was startled, "How did you do that?"

Dodger asked, "How would like to know. Nora is severely injured; she laid down her life protecting mine and everyone else. Now you are gonna help me save her."

"We can't turn the power back on," warned Grace.

"I didn't ask you too," she growled. "I know a way out that will be safe from exposure if your calculations are correct. We have to get Nora out."

Grace asked, "You're not gonna turn the power on?"

"Obviously this needs further research but Rachel just had a meltdown," agreed Dodger. "I would love the power back but not unless we can assure everyone's safety. The shit has hit the fan and I am taking Nora and Charlie and getting the hell out of here. You are welcome to come with us."

Grace agreed, "I'll help you…We need to leave."

"First we get Nora and Charlie," she informed.

"Okay," Grace agreed.

**Meanwhile**

Miles opened the door to where Charlie and Nora were hiding. He looked down and saw nothing but blood.

Charlie cried, "Nora is bleeding out. Terry went to get a gurney but hasn't come back. We couldn't lift her."

"Where is your mom?" asked Miles.

"She and Aaron went for the control room," she informed. "We need to get Nora to the infirmary now. It's not far from here."

Miles nodded and bent over and picked Nora up in one swift swoop. She was losing blood badly. He and Charlie then went running for the infirmary. They rounded a corner and suddenly realized that Nora was no longer breathing. Charlie stopped and looked at her.

"Miles," she motioned.

He looked at her pale face and lifeless body. He placed her one the ground to find a pulse and he found none. He gulped, holding back the pain. Though Nora was once his lover, she was so much younger than him that lately she started to think of her as Charlie's sister for the pair had bonded and for Miles she was now family.

He let out a sigh, "There's nothing we can do now, Charlie. We need to get to the control room."

She wiped back a tear with anger boiling towards her mother. If Rachel had agreed to help them they could have saved Nora's life. But instead she chose to get to the control room and forgo Nora's medical needs. It seemed cold and heartless. Dodger wouldn't even leave Nora and she robbed banks prior to the blackout. Now, she wondered if her mother was just a cold psychotic killer and nothing more. She left Nora's lifeless body behind with anger simmering inside her.

**Meanwhile**

Dodger and Grace had retrieved a gurney and rounded a corner to find Nora's lifeless body on the floor before them. She looked about and then dropped to Nora's side.

Grace commented, "She's dead. Come on Baroness…Let's leave."

Dodger refused; she placed her hand over her heart and felt for vibrations, "She still has a heartbeat but it's quivering."

Grace asked, "How on earth can you tell that?"

Dodger explained, "You help me and I will tell you how I can tell that. She needs blood and we need to stop the bleeding…Hand me the crash box.

Grace handed her a large orange box that was sitting on the gurney. Dodger opened the box and found saline bags, bandages, medications and clamps.

"She doesn't have time for this," she complained. Dodger placed her hand over the wound and let out a jolt of energy to sear the blood vessels and stop the bleeding. She then grabbed a bag and fluid and needles to start and IV bag. She looked at Nora's arm and found no good blood vessels.

Grace knelt down on the ground, "She lost too much blood."

"Central line," stated Dodger. She moved Nora's head to an awkward position and inserted a needle into her neck.

Grace nodded, "That will work. I will get the blood plasma going. We need to get fluid in her faster."

"Use a blood pressure cuff and squeeze the IV bag with it," ordered Dodger.

Grace complied, "I'm getting it set up now."

Dodger placed her hand over Nora's heart and gave another jolt. She could feel the heart jump and start to beat once more.

"I got a heartbeat," stated Dodger.

Grace bent down unbelieving, she felt for a pulse and there is it was a strong pulse. She started to pump more fluids into Nora's body.

Dodger stated, "Let's get her on the gurney and get the hell out of here."

Each woman took half of Nora's torso and they left her onto the gurney. Grace placed an IV bag on an attached pole and inflated the cuff some more. She was surprised how much faster the fluid was moving into the injured woman who a moment ago was lifeless on the floor.

Dodger instructed, "Quick, get to the elevator." She wanted to get Charlie out as well but knew she could not. Nora and her new found helper, Grace would have to do.

Nora started to come around in the elevator; she could hear voices but not really understand what had happened.

Dodger instructed, "We need to get to the sub level."

Grace looked at the controls of the elevator, "What sub level?"

Dodger reached over and lifted a small latch and opened the panel. Inside was another panel that no one seemed to know about. It was separate from the computers in the base. Dodger entered a code of 999. The elevator began to descend into a deeper darkens than ever before.

Grace asked, "How did you know about that secret panel?"

"My family placed it in every military installation," she informed.

"Nine, nine, nine? A rather strange code?" stated Grace.

"Flip it," stated Dodger. "Six, six, six."

Grace blinked wondering what she walked into, "Six, six, six?" she asked.

"Their signature," shrugged Dodger.

"Where are we going?" asked Grace.

"A safe house in Oregon…We get sub level and we should find some working vehicles…Should be an ambulance we can use."

Grace gasped, "Really? The other didn't seem to mention that."

She shook her head, "They wouldn't know…Only the elite would know."

"Oh," Grace wondered if when the elevator would ever stop. Finally after nearly ten minutes they came to a rest. The door slid open and they walked into the sub level.

The whole thing looked like an underground garage; lights flickered on when motion detectors detected movement. A blue light then flashed over them with intensity.

Grace asked, "What was that?"

"Decontamination," she replied. "UV light and low intensity sound waves to kill viruses and bacteria. How fragile are the nanites?"

She wasn't sure, "The sound wave could destroy them if it's a right frequency."

Dodger suggested, "Let's hope so." They wheeled Nora gurney to a black box like vehicle. It was an ambulance painted black with no markings or emergency lights. They loaded Nora in the back if the rig. Dodger instructed Grace to ride in back while she drove.

As they started to drive the tunnels deep underground Nora became more aware. She looked over at Grace sitting beside her.

"Am I okay?" she asked.

Grace nodded, "You're gonna be just fine."

"Where are we?"

Grace patted Nora's hand unsure, "Someplace safe."

"Where is everyone?"

Grace assured, "They will be fine. We need to get you to a hospital."

"There aren't any hospitals," replied Nora.

Dodger hollered from the front, "If she wakes up tell her we are going to the Oregon safe house. She knows that's mine."

Grace nodded and then spoke to Nora, "We are going to Oregon with the Baroness to the safe house for medical care."

"Who?" Nora asked. "Oh, wait…You mean Dodger…Terry."

Grace agreed, "Yes, with the Artful Dodger who has articulately planned our escape to safety. Don't worry…Everything will be just fine."

"Miles and Charlie?"

Grace had no idea but assured, "We will catch up with them later."

Nora drifted off to sleep from the blood lose. She felt ever so tired but was assured she would see them again and the power was most certainly turned on.

The End

Author's note: Thank you to all you have been reading and kind those kind enough to review. Please keep an eye out for the next installment called "Of Virgin Blood." Preview: Charlie is thought to be the key to ushering in a new age by occulting elitist and it's falls upon Monroe's shoulders to save her. Charlie is sent reeling when she discovers Miles is her biological father.


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